A Sri Lankan politician with the ruling party and three other men have been jailed for the killing of British aid worker Khuram Shaikh, murdereded whilst on holiday in Southern Sri Lanka in 2011.

Sampath Vidanapathirana, a politician with reported close links to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was handed a 20-year jail sentence by the Colombo High Court, over the vicious Christmas day attack, where 32-year-old Shaikh was shot and stabbed and his Russian girlfriend raped.

The case has faced considerable delays with repeated accusations of political interference and witness intimidation. The accused was initially released and reinstated to his political post before being re-arrested following intense international pressure over the murder.

British Prime Minister David Cameron had cited the case as an example of Colombo’s failure to deliver justice and Prince Charles had reportedly taken a private interest in the case.

The Canadian government has expressed concern about the recent restrictions issued on non-governmental organisations by Sri Lanka.

Foreign Secretary Deepak Obhrai urged Sri Lanka to “respect the right to freedoms of expression, assembly and association”, in a statement released on Thursday.

“Canada is deeply concerned by reports of efforts to restrict legitimate activities of civil society and non-governmental organizations in Sri Lanka. We urge the Sri Lankan authorities to respect the right to freedoms of expression, assembly and association, and the right to take part in public affairs,” he said.

The body of a man was found floating in the water under Kallady bridge in Batticaloa on Friday, reported Adaderana Tamil.

The body has been identified as Saajahaan, from Kaaththaankudi.

 

All 7 Sri Lankan navy soldiers that were arrested in suspicion of being involved in the rape of an eleven year old Tamil girl in Jaffna have been released after the victim failed to identify her attackers.

The girl was asked to identify her attacker whilst suspected navy personnel were paraded in front of her, reports Global Tamil News.

The girl was admitted to Jaffna hospital after the attack on Wednesday with one suspect initially arrested.

The Tanzanian Foreign Minister, Bernard K Membe, who also chairs the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) will visit Sri Lanka next week, reports news.lk.

Memba will meet with the Sri Lanka Minister of External Affair, GL Peiris, to form agreements on the Establishment of a Joint Commission on Cooperation and on Bilateral Political Consultations that will reportedly be signed by the two Ministers.

A four day anti-Christian campaign was launched Tuesday, by a Buddhist group in Sri Lanka, reports the Barnabus Fund.

Reports suggest that the Ravana Balaya General Secretary announced a 4 day campaign against ‘Christian fundamentalism’ and advised Christians to halt their activities.

Amnesty International today, called on the Australian government to return 153 Tamil asylum seekers, detained in in a patrol boat at see, to Australian shores to have their claims processed, reports the Guardian.

Australian court documents revealed that the asylum seekers were begin held in windowless rooms, with no access to translators whilst being split up from their family groups.

The United Nations refugee agency, Wednesday, warned that Australia may have breached an international refugee convention by returning a group of asylum seekers to Sri Lanka after intercepting their boat at sea, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.