Category: Legal

COLOMBO, May 2, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy Friday arrested 54 would-be illegal immigrants in the first major detection of boat people heading to Australia this year, an official said.A fishing trawler was detected with the passengers, including 11 women and 13 children, off the island’s north-eastern coast of Mullaittivu, navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya […]

May 01, 2014 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan national has been arrested in India over alleged links to Pakistani intelligence, the Times of India newspaper said. The newspaper said Sakir Hussein, 37, was in Puzhal prison after being remanded by a court in Tamil Nadu Tuesday. He had flown in from Sri Lanka on a […]

COLOMBO, April 28, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka police Monday announced a new unit to investigate religious hate crimes after attacks by Buddhist monks on churches and mosques last year raised concerns about religious freedom.Police Inspector-General N. K. Illangakoon said the new unit would swiftly investigate any complaint relating to “religious matters” on the majority […]

DUBAI, April 22, 2014 (AFP) – Amnesty International accused authorities in gas-rich Qatar on Wednesday of failing to protect domestic workers, citing cases of abuse, sexual violence and “forced labour”.As she lay injured on the ground, her attacker sexually assaulted her before finally calling an ambulance. Six months later, she was still using a wheelchair, […]

COLOMBO, April 10, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police have arrested 60 people accused of trying to revive a separatist group behind a civil war that left tens of thousands dead, a spokesman said on Thursday.The suspects, including 10 women, were detained in a crackdown over the past month and were being questioned about attempts […]

COLOMBO, March 11, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s new executioner panicked after seeing the country’s main gallows for the first time and has since gone AWOL leaving the authorities hanging, the top prison official said Tuesday.“But, with this chap leaving, we are now in a quandary,” Pallegama said. “In case the government resumes hanging, we […]

COLOMBO, March 8, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities halted excavations after recovering 81 skeletal remains from an unmarked mass grave atop an old burial ground in the island’s former war zone, an official said Saturday.Judicial medical officer Dhananjaya Waidyaratne said digging at a depth of about two metres (6.7 feet) led to the old […]

COLOMBO, February 25, 2014 (AFP) – Forensic experts have found more bodies in an unmarked mass grave in Sri Lanka’s northern former war zone, taking the total number to 80, an official said Tuesday.Judicial medical officer Dhananjaya Waidyaratne said excavations resumed on Monday after a short break at the grave site discovered by construction workers […]

Feb 21, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition has charged that a multi-billion dollar sea reclamation deal has been given to a Chinese company blacklisted by the World Bank for corruption, threatening to cancel the deal if they come to power.Opposition legislator Harsha de Silva alleged that China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) which had […]

Feb 21, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Tobacco Company, a unit of British American Tobacco said it will sell packs without graphic labels until a court decision in May, despite parliament passing health ministry regulations this week.CTC said the court of appeal is expected to issue its judgment on May 12, and the Supreme […]

NEW DELHI, February 19, 2014 (AFP) – The chief minister of an Indian state Wednesday ordered the release of all seven people jailed for plotting the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, meaning they could walk free in three days.J. Jayalalithaa, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, announced the decision one day after the country’s […]

COLOMBO, February 19, 2014 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan delegation headed to South Africa Wednesday to study the work of a post-apartheid truth commission as pressure mounts on Colombo to address allegations of war crimes against ethnic Tamils.Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva was leading a five-member team which would see what lessons it could […]