<p>A fresh contempt of court hearing against Gnanasara, a leader of the extremist Sinhala-nationalist BBS organisation, has been set for February 17, 2020 by the Sri Lankan court of appeal.</p> <p>The action was filed by TNA MP Shanthi Sriskandarajah after Gnanasara had led the cremation of a Buddhist monk on Tamil temple premises, directly contravening a court order prohibiting the action.</p> <p>The senior superintendent (SSP) and chief inspector of the Mullaitivu police department will also appear as defendants in the case, for failing to prevent the court order from being disobeyed.</p>

Pressure from the Sri Lankan military has led to the University of Jaffna barring the head of its law department from engaging in private practice, after he took up a public interest habeas corpus case into the 1996 disappearance of more than two dozen Tamil youth.

Tamils clearing the Kanchikudiyaru thuyilum illam (LTTE cemetery) were threatened by the Sri Lankan army on Friday morning.

On Friday, families of fallen LTTE cadres and members of the public gathered to clear up the cemetery in Amparai district, in preparation for Maaveerar Naal on November 27.

Sri Lankan soldiers went to the site and threatened those who had gathered to stop the clearing activities or face arrest.

The Sri Lankan navy continued with its militarisation of the Tamil North-East, announcing that it had constructed two pre-schools for Tamil infants in Pungudutivu and Mandaitivu last month.

Sri Lanka’s leading presidential election candidates have spent over Rs. 1 billion so far on their campaigns in just two weeks, according to figures released by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV).

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) reportedly spent Rs. 574 million expenditure, whilst Sajith Premadasa’s New Democratic Front (NDF) spent Rs. 372 million.

All other political parties account for less than 1% of the expenditure, the CMEV added.

 

 

Over 250,000 Australians have been campaigning to stop the deportation of a Tamil family from Australia to Sri Lanka. Despite their campaign for fairness, “the Morrison government still insists on denying assistance to the Biloela family,” Meggan Devery writes for Independent Australia.

The United Nations (UN) claimed that Sri Lankan peacekeepers to be deployed with its mission in Mali have a “critical and specialized capability” needed to protect convoys on the ground, as controversy erupted over the Sri Lankan army’s continued participation on peacekeeping missions.

<p>Socialist Party of Malaysia’s Deputy Chairperson, S Arutchelvan, condemned the Special Measures Act (SOSMA), which has been used to detain 12 men for their alleged ‘LTTE links’.</p> <p>According to the Green Left, Arutchelvan said that SOSMA must be repealed urgently. He was previously a veteran of the campaign against the Internal Security Act (ISA), legislation which was used to detain people without trial but has now been repealed.</p> <p>Arutchelvan also condemned the unwarranted attempt to criminalise support for the right of Tamils to self-determination, human rights and welfare in Sri Lanka.</p>

Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals dropped by 22.5% in October, representing a seventh straight month of decline, despite the government launching several worldwide "aggressive" tourism campaigns.

Both Sri Lanka’s leading candidates in upcoming presidential polls have emphasised their commitment to “national security” and strengthening the controversial military, as canvassing heats up this week.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella told Anadolu Agency that for Gotabaya Rajapaksa, national security “will remain his foremost agenda”.

“All countries prioritize national security,” he said. “There is no point in talking about reconciliation without ensuring national security.”