Category: Legal

WASHINGTON, August 9, 2013 (AFP) – The United States on Friday urged Sri Lanka to investigate a deadly army crackdown on a village environmental protest and to prosecute those responsible.The military on August 1 opened fire on thousands of unarmed villagers at Weliweriya near Colombo as they protested contamination of their ground water, allegedly due […]

COLOMBO, Aug 6, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s opposition Tuesday demanded an international investigation into a deadly army crackdown on villagers who were demonstrating against contaminated water supplies.The United National Party (UNP) criticised the army’s plans for an internal military probe into the death of three civilians and wounding of 50 others during a protest […]

LONDON, July 30, 2013 (AFP) – Almost 100 foreign suspected war criminals were found to be living in Britain last year after applying for citizenship or asylum, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.“That, in turn, requires more political will and commitment at the higher level.” British police in May arrested five men wanted in Rwanda […]

July 30, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance ministry was not probing an allegation of pay-offs in a land deal with India’s Krrish group because there was no complaint by the investor, top officials aid.Krrish in a statement last week, denied that any pay-offs had been made for the land deal. Finance secretary P B […]

HANOI, July 31, 2013 (AFP) – A Vietnamese fish farmer who became a folk hero after he used homemade weapons to resist forced eviction has lost his appeal against a five-year jail term for attempted murder, a court clerk said Wednesday. Doan Van Vuon and his family rose to prominence when they armed themselves with […]

JAKARTA, July 27, 2013 (AFP) – Police detained four Indonesians allegedly involved in arranging an Australian-bound refugee boat which sank earlier this week, killing at least 15 people, a local police official said Saturday.The four men were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday in two nearby cities after the boat sank off the southwestern coast of […]

SYDNEY, July 26, 2013 (AFP) – The United Nations on Friday said it was “troubled” by Australia’s decision to send asylum-seekers arriving by boat to Papua New Guinea given conditions there failed to adequately protect refugees. In it’s first assessment of the hardline policy announced a week ago by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the United […]

July 19, 2013 (LBO) – Boat people arriving in Australia from countries like Sri Lanka and others may be settled in Papua New Guinea and other developing countries, media reports said. AFP news agency quoting the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said Australia has struck a deal with PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to process and settle […]

SYDNEY, July 19, 2013 (AFP) – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Friday announced that no more boatpeople will be resettled in Australia as refugees, with all unauthorised arrivals to be sent to poverty-stricken Papua New Guinea.Australia will also contribute funds to reform the impoverished Pacific nation’s university sector and support other health, education and law and […]

COLOMBO, July 15, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has halted a French cultural festival after it screened an internationally-acclaimed local film that the military considered insulting, authorities said Monday.The French Film Festival in Colombo was abruptly stopped by the management of the state-owned venue after the movie — set during Sri Lanka’s ethnic war — […]

July 5, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s police arrested 12 commandos in connection with the execution-style killing of five students during the island’s Tamil separatist war, an official said Friday.An inspector and 11 constables from the elite Police Special Task Force (STF) were taken before a magistrate in the port town of Trincomalee on Thursday, […]

July 2, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has banned the July 1 issue of Time magazine because its cover story on Myanmar’s Buddhist-Muslim clashes could hurt religious sentiment on the island, an official said Tuesday.Customs department spokesman Leslie Gamini said the issue carrying a photo of a prominent Myanmar monk under the headline: “The Face […]