Category: Legal

Aug 11, 2011 (LBO) – Lawyers for Raj Rajaratnam, a Sri Lanka born fund manager convicted of insider trading, said he should be dealt leniently because of his failing health, the state exaggerated his crimes and his good deeds. US prosecutors had demand a maximum sentence of 24.5 years and described him as the ‘modern […]

July 29, 2011 (AFP) – The body of a prominent Sri Lankan human rights activist missing since February last year has been found, the United Nations said Friday. Pattani Razeek, managing trustee of non-governmental organisation the Community Trust Fund, was exhumed by police on Thursday after a tip-off from two suspects arrested in relation to […]

July 25, 2011 (LBO) – The chairman of Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Ashantha de Mel had “no choice” but to use zero costs derivatives to which went against him when oil price fell “dramatically” in 2008, according to a ruling by a London court. A London court which dismissed a counter claim by […]

July 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s lawlessness and injustice was systematically engineered by the best legal minds in the country over a long period and the island’s minority are not the only victims, a lawyer who has also spoken out against judicial autocracy has said. Kishali Pinto- Jayawardena, lawyer and author, addressing a meeting […]

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 […]