Sri Lanka’s police spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana said that the power to issue detention orders for suspects arrested on terrorism-related activities should be granted to the security services instead of to the courts, as he called for harsher laws and a greater role of powers for the police.

Kanagasabai Devadasan, a Tamil political prisoner from Colombo who has spent 12 years in jail has written a letter to Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, requesting him to expedite the court hearing of an appeal he had filed against the allegations that incarcerated him or otherwise raise his sentence to capital punishment and "hang him immediately".  

Batticaloa District representatives from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) visited the Mylanthanaimadu-Periya Maadhavanai grazing and agricultural area to discuss the issues of the disputed land last week, as local Tamils continued to express fears over increasing Sinhala colonisation.

UK Minister for Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Nigel Adams, expressed concerns the government had over Sri Lanka’s continued “harassment of civil society” and “militarisation of civilian functions”.

Responding to questions posed by UK Shadow Justice Minister, Lyn Brown, over the government’s assessment of Keenie Meenie Services war crimes in Sri Lanka and continued police training, Britain’s government has asserted that they are taking allegations of war crimes “very seriously” whilst also defending training provided by the Scottish police.

Speaking in parliament, Nigel Adams, Minister for Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development, expressed concern over anti-Muslim sentiment in Sri Lanka.

This was during a discussion on attacks on religious freedom during the COVID-19 pandemic, Adams stated:

11 prisoners were killed and over 100 injured when Sri Lankan prison guards opened fire at Mahara prison, near Colombo, during unrest on 29 November.

Inmates were demanded to be freed after at least a thousand inmates, out of an estimated 30,000 inmates, tested positive. Police spokesman, DIG Ajith Rohana, claimed guards were instructed to use force in order to bring under control the unrest.

^{Fishermen in Mannar examine their wrecked boats.}

Tens of thosuands of people across the North-East have been impacted by Cyclone Burevi as it slammed into the island this week, leaving homes destroyed, scores displaced and at least one person missing.

Wind speeds reached up to 90 kilometres per hour with rainfall exceeding 200mm in the affected areas as the cyclone hit and moved towards Tamil Nadu.

The Supreme Court dismissed all petitions filed against Sri Lanka's forced cremation policy of Muslim COVID-19 victims, according to the Daily FT. 

Several petitions were filed after the Sri Lankan government made cremations complusory for all coronavirus victims, disregarding advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and going against Islamic tradition as racist false rumours against the island's Muslim community continue to circulate.