A case brought by the parents of Ganesan Nimalaruban, who died last year in a Vavuniya prison, has been dismissed by the Supreme Court.

Nimalaruban died along with another inmate after riots by Tamil detainees, during which several prison guards were taken hostage.

Prison officials say Nimalaruban died of heart disease, however his family and lawyers say that his body had physical injuries.

Speaking at a Jaffna press conference at the Jaffna Press Club on Monday, Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam praised the people of the North for demand for self-determination expressed by their votes at the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections last month.

Listen to press conference in Tamil here:

Standing by the TNPF’s decision to boycott the election, Gajendrakumar said that the Tamil people of the North were to be praised for rejecting Sri Lankan rule in the Tamil homeland, and for expressing their enduring desire for the right to self-determination, despite all the obstacles and hardships they have faced in the four years since the end of the armed conflict.

"We also view this [election result] as something special. As you well know, our party boycotted this election completely."

"But despite that, we did not ask the Tamil people to boycott the election or to act in a way that we instructed. As you well know we did released a written statement, that only a few media outlets covered. In that way, we left the election to the conscience of the people."

"As far as we are concerned, even today, the [Tamil] people have clearly expressed their aspirations, namely, firstly, they have categorically rejected the Sri Lankan state's conduct and rule within the Tamil homeland. Secondly, with regards to Tamil political aspirations, even today, they have once again, resolutely voted for the right to self-determination, seeking the reaffirmation of our nationhood, and unanimously, for the freedom of a nation; in a vote that has no historic precedence."

"We bow our heads to their [Tamil people's] act"

Gajendrakumar said that his party would work to keep the people actively engaged in politics, outside of election time.

The Sri Lankan military has continued the land grab and colonisation of the North-East reports Tamilnet.

Resettled Tamil farmers have had their agricultural land taken by the Sri Lankan military, who have been involved in resettling people form the South to form a new village in the North-Eastern region of Kokkuth-thoduvaay.

The Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has said that Sri lanka will follow the same guidelines as employed by the Australian government during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth 2 years ago.

Rambukwella said background checks are currently being performed on foreign journalists who have applied to enter the country to cover CHOGM.

The CHOGM 2013 Task Force Secretariat in Colombo will be making the final decisions in this regard, he said.

The Indian Minister of Naval affairs G K Vasan, suggested today that 2 aspects would be taken into consideration before the final decision is taken regarding India’s participation at CHOGM.

The representative of the Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in Sri Lanka, Prince Charles, has offered his help to win justice for the murder of Khuram Sheikh, who was killed on the island in 2011.

According to the Observer, Prince Charles has taken a private interest in the case, as pressure on David Cameron grows to pull out of the meeting.

Minister Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York, Waruna Sri Dhanapala, has been elected as the Vice-Chair of the Second Committee for its 68th Session.

The Asia-Pacific group unanimously endorsed his appointment to the Bureau of the Second Committee, according to the Defence Ministry's website.

"Canada takes its membership in the Commonwealth very seriously. It is for this simple reason that we believe in upholding the basic principles it stands for: freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Without them, what does the Commonwealth stand for?"

"The Commonwealth failed to put any pressure on a regime that has so blatantly ignored international calls for change... As a consequence, we gave this regime a free pass to continue down this path."

"This was not a decision taken in haste. It was carefully considered with one aim in mind: for Canada to send a message about our displeasure with an organization that has failed to stand up for its fundamental principles. How can an organization like the Commonwealth reward a country like Sri Lanka, not just with hosting a summit, but by allowing it to chair the organization for two years? And after no meaningful reconciliation following a brutal and violent struggle?"