The Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena has reportedly ordered that Tamil political prisoners trials should be ‘concluded’ before January 2019.

Sirisena issued the directive at his cabinet meeting on Wednesday, News First reports.

Earlier this year Sirisena said “there are no political prisoners in Sri Lanka” and dismissed ongoing protests by Tamils across the North-East over disappearances and political prisoners, claiming they were instigated by ‘misleading’ NGOs.

He made these comments around six months after meeting with families of Tamil political prisoners and promising to resolve their problems.

<p>The body of a young man was found yesterday inside an abandoned house next to Jaffna Youth Court.&nbsp;</p> <p>It has been identified as 33 year old Vimalathas Joseph Jefferson, from Jaffna.&nbsp;</p> <p>The police is reportedly investigating the death.&nbsp;</p>

Final preparations were underway yesterday at the Alankulam Thuyilum Illam (LTTE cemetry) in Sampoor, Trincomalee, ahead of Tamil Remembrance Day or Maaveerar Naal on November 27.

The US Senator Chris Van Hollen wrote to the Sri Lankan president yesterday, urging him to seek an end to the political crisis in the island and accept the results of the two no-confidence motions against Mahinda Rajapaksa. 

Sri Lanka has been in a state of turmoil for weeks following Sirisena's shock sacking of the prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa. 

Highlighting increased ties between the US and Sri Lanka, through the proposed Millenium Challenge Corporation compact and increases in economic and security assistance, Van Hollen warned that rule of law and democracy was at risk. 

<p>Sri Lanka’s finance minister issued a statement reassuring lenders of timely debt repayment, as Sri Lanka’s rupee hit a historic low.</p> <p>The statement released by the ministry today <a href="http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Govt-can-repay-loans-for-Fin-Ministry…">said,</a></p>

<p>The paramilitary leader Pillayan who is in detention over the 2005 assassination of TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham has had his remand extended by the Batticaloa High Court.</p> <p>Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan,&nbsp;formerly a deputy of LTTE defector turned paramilitary leader Karuna, was reportedly disappointed to not be released on Wednesday, with his paramilitary associates gathered outside the court complex waiting to greet him.</p> <p>The Batticaloa High Court judge however adjourned the trial further until January 9, 2019, extending Pillayan’s remand also.</p>

Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) has resumed its campaign against Tamil Guardian journalist Uthayarasa Shalin after a lull of a month.

The TID issued a summons to Shalin’s friend Sinnathurai Pratheepkumar on Wednesday, ordering him to appear at TID headquarters in Colombo on November 27.

The journalist has faced months of harassment and targeting, which has included the summoning and questioning of his friends and family members, purportedly based on his coverage of a Hindu temple festival where a map of the Tamil homeland was displayed.

A Jaffna police department have applied for a ban on commemorations of Maaveerar Naal, the Tamil national remembrance day for fallen LTTE fighters on November 27.

Koppay police applied for the ban under section 120 of the penal code - inciting or seeking to incite hate - and Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) regulations.

Maaveerar Naal commemorations were planned to take place on a property belonging to an individual named Sritharan, opposite the Koppay 512 brigade camp, police told the court.

The camp is built over the original Koppay Thuyilum Illam (LTTE cemetery).

Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff should be punished under the Protection of Victims and Witnesses Act for attempting to hamper a case against him by sabotaging the police official in charge of investigating the case, the country’s number two police chief has said.

Nishantha Silva, officer in charge of the organised crimes division at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was given a transfer order to ordinary duties in Negombo, reportedly on the orders of the Sri Lankan president, further at the behest of Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne.

Sri Lanka’s Professionals’ National Front (PNF) has written to the British High Commissioner James Dauris, warning him to “refrain from interfering into internal affairs of our motherland”.

The PNF, an organisation of Sri Lankan professionals from various fields including medicine, engineering, banking and IT, also accused the diplomat of going “beyond the accepted norms and limits as per Vienna convention”.

Their letter comes amidst many governments, including the UK expressing concern at the political turmoil on the island.

However, Sinhala nationalists groups, including the extremist Bodu Bala Sena and Buddhist monks, have pushed back against these calls.