Category: Legal

WELLINGTON, July 11, 2011 (AFP) – New Zealand has refused entry to a boat load of Sri Lankan asylum seekers, saying it would only open the door to “millions of others” and reward people smugglers. A boat containing about 85 Sri Lankans who said they were heading to New Zealand was detained in Indonesian waters […]

July 6, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s recent state land sales to investors have procedural flaws that could result in the contracts being challenged in courts and deemed illegal, opposition lawmakers warned at an economic forum. Sri Lanka had sold two blocks of state land to CATIC, a Chinese defence contractor, and Shangri La, a […]

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2011 (AFP) – The United States on Monday removed the Philippines and Singapore from a human trafficking watchlist that had drawn concerns from the close allies, but it reported record abuses around the world. The State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report has become increasingly sensitive for Southeast Asian governments, which face […]

June 26, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s and Bahrain has signed an agreement to stop double taxation of interest and dividends from investment made in each country, the finance ministry said. The deal was signed between Sarath Amunugama, Sri Lanka’s mister for international monetary co-operation and Bahrain’s finance minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa. […]

June 25, 2011 (LBO) – Use of torture by police in Sri Lanka is “endemic” and lawlessness has gradually superseded rule of law in the island partly due a flawed constitution, a rights body which has publicized hundreds of such cases for over a decade, has said. “This constitution led to the politicization of the […]

June 18, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s securities regulator has finalized rules to allow exchange traded funds (ETFs) with Indian help, and the final document is expected to be given legal effect within two months, an official said. “Within the next two months, regulations to enable ETFs to be traded in the Colombo Stock Exchange […]

OTTAWA, June 14, 2011 (AFP) – Canadian police arrested Tuesday four Sri Lankan nationals accused of being behind a 2009 operation that illegally brought 76 Tamils from war-torn Sri Lanka to Canada on a rickety freighter. All 76, including the four people arrested, requested asylum when they arrived off the coast of British Columbia in […]

LONDON, June 14, 2011 (AFP) – Britain on Wednesday said “horrific” footage contained within a film documenting the final weeks of Sri Lanka’s civil war constituted “convincing evidence” of war crimes. The Channel 4 documentary, which aired on British television on Tuesday, contained footage of what it said were prisoner executions. It also showed the […]

COLOMBO, June 15, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday denied it targeted civilians while crushing Tamil Tiger rebels but said action would be taken if war crimes allegations contained in a new British documentary were true. The Sri Lankan High Commission in London said images shown on Channel 4 on Tuesday night had not […]

June 11, 2011 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund had “nothing to do” with a controversial ‘pension’ plan for Sri Lanka’s private sector workers involving a third forced savings scheme, an official said. Rulers, a handful of their close associates can get a pension after only five years in office under a law passed by […]

June 4, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military tightened security ahead of the funeral Saturday of a protester killed while demonstrating against a controversial pensions bill earlier in the week, officials said. Authorities blocked large gatherings of mourners at the home of slain factory worker Roshen Ratnasekera, witnesses said, adding that troops had also shifted […]

June 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition has cast doubts on claims that a lifetime pension exceeding the contributed balance, will be paid through a controversial proposed pension plan for private citizens. “There is no way that the Government can make lifetime monthly pension payments via the proposed Private Sector Pension Scheme,” opposition […]