• Sri Lankan military ramps up security presence for local elections

    The Sri Lankan military will be deployed to 155 “vulnerable points” during the upcoming local government elections with thousands of troops awaiting on standby, reports the Daily News.

  • More remands for Tamil pair held over Facebook post

    A Sri Lankan court has issued yet another remand to two Tamils accused of sharing a Facebook post with ‘LTTE symbols’.

    BBC Sinhala reported that the two Tamil men, both residents of Ratnapura, were detained after a complaint was lodged with Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Department, after they shared posts on social media.

  • More Sri Lankan troops leave on UN peacekeeping mission

    The Sri Lankan army has announced that yet another contingent of troops will leave on a United Nations peacekeeping mission later this month.

  • UK PM appoints Sri Lanka trade envoy

    The British prime minister this week appointed the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Sri Lanka, MP Jayawardena as a new trade envoy to Sri Lanka. 

    The role would be 'to support and enhance the development of Britain's trade and investment with Sri Lanka', the government said in a statement. 

    His appointment was welcomed by the UK High commissioner to Sri Lanka, James Dauris. 

  • Historic' opening of road fails to deliver necessary access

    A road which runs through the large army cantonment in the Palaly area was reported to have opened to the public with much fanfare on Tuesday – however only two Sri Lanka Transport Board buses were permitted to travel, while access to civilian vehicles or pedestrians remains prohibited.

  • Sri Lanka not accused of war crimes says president, Mangala sacked as FM for cosponsoring resolution

    Sri Lanka's president reiterated his refusal to allow foreign judges into any inquiry examining human rights violations during the final stages of the armed conflict, whilst claiming that Sri Lanka had not been accused of committing international war crimes. 

  • British Police investigating incident involving Sri Lankan military officer - reports

    The Metropolitan Police special branch is currently investigating the incident involving a Sri Lankan military officer gesturing a death threat to Tamils protesting in London, sources close to the UK government told the Tamil Guardian. 

  • Cannot remove officer due to social media video' - Sri Lankan army

    The Sri Lankan army commander today rejected the calls for the military officer, filmed making a throat slitting gesture to Tamils protesting in London, to be suspended, stating "they could not remove officials merely because of a social media video". 

    "He is back to work but there will be an inquiry," Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayake was quoted by Sri Lankan papers as saying. 

  • Sri Lanka's president revokes suspension of military official at London embassy

    A Sri Lankan military official who was suspended by the state's Ministry of External Affairs, has been ordered by President Sirisena to resume his duties at the Sri Lankan High Commission in London.

    Brigadier Priyanka Fernando was suspended by the MEA yesterday after being filmed making a throat slitting gesture to Tamils protesting on Sunday. 

  • Chair of cross-party UK MPs urges govt to expel Sri Lankan military official

    The chair of the UK All Parliamentary Group for Tamils, MP Paul Scully, urged the government to expel the Sri Lankan military official who was captured on video motioning a death threat to Tamils protesting outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London on Sunday. 

    "I urge you to take immediate action and to withdraw the Brigadier Fernando's diplomatic papers and expel him from the United Kingdom," Mr Scully wrote in a letter to the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. 

    "Records show that Brigadier Fernando was a commanding officer of the 59th Division of the Sri Lankan army during 2008/2009 which stands accused by the OHCHR of repeatedly attacking civilian hospitals in the region causing large scale death and destruction. Brigadier Fernando was clearly active in the final stages of the war with command responsibility in which his division and the Sri Lankan military stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity."

  • Sri Lankan president reiterates denial of secret detention centres

    Sri Lanka’s president has once again declared that there were no secret detention centers on the island, contradicting reports by non-governmental organisations and a UN body which confirmed their existence.

  • Suspension ordered as Sri Lanka seeks to defuse outcry over death threat by military official

    The Sri Lankan military official who motioned a death threat to Tamils protesting in London on Sunday is to be suspended the country's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement today as the government sought to stem rising international outcry at the incident. 

  • British MPs call for expulsion of Sri Lankan military official

    British parliamentarians from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils have called for the expulsion of a Sri Lankan military official who motioned a death threat to Tamil protestors in London this week.

  • Sri Lankan court further remands Tamils over Facebook post

    A court in Sri Lanka has ordered that two Tamils accused of sharing a Facebook post containing 'LTTE symbols'.

    The two men, named as Dinesh Kumar and Vijaya Kumar by Ceylon Today, have now been remanded until 7th of February.

    They were arrested by Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) for the social media post.

     

  • Sri Lankan officer that threatened Tamil protestors implicated in war crimes

    A Sri Lankan military officer who motioned a death threat to Tamil protestors in London yesterday has been identified as a commander who led troops in a military offensive in 2009, that massacred tens of thousands of Tamil civilians.

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