Category: Politics

GALLE, January 28, 2011 (AFP) – Does it make sense to defend freedom of speech by calling on writers not to speak at a literary festival? South African novelist Damon Galgut pulled out explicitly because of the campaign, while Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and fellow writer Kiran Desai withdrew last week for reasons which […]

January 25, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s jailed former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who tried to unseat the president in elections, on Tuesday lost an appeal to retain his parliamentary seat. The Supreme Court ruled that a court martial verdict in September finding him guilty of arms procurement offences meant that he was no longer […]

January 23, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka rejected Sunday suggestions that the novelist and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk had decided to boycott a literary festival on the island because of human rights concerns. Any attempt to link Pamuk’s non-participation at the Galle Literary Festival to “an alleged situation about freedom of expression in Sri Lanka […]

PARIS, January 20, 2011 (AFP) – Leading media freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday accused Nobel-winning author Orhan Pamuk and other writers of legitimising repression in Sri Lanka by attending a literary festival there. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was “disturbing” that Sri Lanka should celebrate literature while suppressing freedom of expression […]

January 5, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday postponed council elections near three cricket World Cup venues as the nation seeks to put on a flawless show as co-hosts of the prestigious event. The Colombo Municipal Council will not go to the polls as scheduled in March while four other councils in the central […]

January 3, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Monday it was considering banning mini-skirts following complaints about women wearing skimpy clothing in the conservative island nation. Last year, US singer Akon was denied a visa to perform in Sri Lanka after Buddhist monks took offence at one of his videos that featured women in bikinis […]

January 1, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will hold its first nationwide local elections since the crushing of Tamil Tiger rebels, a minister said, with the mid-March vote seen as a key test for the ruling party. Political sources said the local election would be a key test of the government’s popularity as the country […]

Dec 31, 2010 (LBO) – The United States has given Sri Lanka 5.5 million US dollars worth of emergency food aid to support the return of refugees displaced by the ethnic war in the north, a statement said. USAID, the development agency of the US government, has provided over 75 million dollars (8. 32 billion […]

December 30, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is to drop all remaining references to its British colonial name “Ceylon” from state institutions, a government spokesman said Thursday. The cabinet considered a proposal to rename the Ceylon Electricity Board and decided it should be extend to other official organisations, an information ministry official told AFP. “The […]

December 21, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Tuesday warned the United States to exercise “circumspection” in diplomatic cables after a message released by WikilLeaks suggested Colombo had colluded with murderous paramilitary groups. External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told US Ambassador Patricia Butenis that leaked US cables contained “glaring instances of allegations totally unwarranted by […]

WASHINGTON, December 18, 2010 (AFP) – Dozens of US lawmakers on Friday urged a global probe into alleged rights violations by Sri Lanka in the last stages of its civil war, saying Colombo’s own efforts do not ensure accountability. In letters to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 17 senators and 30 members of the House […]

December 13, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka denied on Monday plans to outlaw the singing of the national anthem in Tamil after the main minority party raised strong objections to the mooted ban. The status quo will remain, said public administration minister John Seneviratne, who is in charge of managing the code of conduct for […]