Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

The policeman directly involved in the attack on a man in Bambalapitiya yesterday which led to his drowning, will be taken into police custody, Spokesman Senior DIG Nimal Mediwaka said. The body of the man that was swept out by the sea, was found a short while ago.



Speaking to Daily Mirror online the Senior DIG said that it had been brought to light that one of the men directly involved in the attack was a policeman attached to the Bambalapitiya police station, who had not been in uniform at the time.

General Sarath Fonseka in Washington DC. 10/25/2009

By Dianne Silva

Head of the delegation to Sri Lanka and the Maldives from the European Commission, Ambassador Bernard Savage says that Sri Lanka cannot ask for and keep the GSP plus concession without abiding by the laws to obtain the facility which includes investigating human rights.

But you can`t have your cake and eat it. The regulations of GSP under our laws and our regulations allows for investigations. There is no obligation on Sri Lanka to ask for and keep that concession. Sri Lanka was free to renounce that concession if it did not agree with the conditions under which it was granted, Ambassador Savage told Daily Mirror online.

The police today confirmed that they have been given instructions by the Ministry of Defence to take legal action against any media institution that carry false news items linking the names of serving Army officers with political propaganda.

Police spokesman DIG Nimal Mediwaka told Daily Mirror Online that the police were told to follow the instructions made public last week as was issued to the media by Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.

* Bribed top politico
* Fined 6.6 m by UK`s Fraud Office

By A Special Correspondent

A VVIP politician had handed over construction of seven flyovers to a blacklisted UK based company Mabey and Johnson and some of the bridges and flyovers built by this concern collapsed in several countries. (See page 7 for full story.)
A steelwork structure supplied by Mabey and Johnson to an Italian company and erected in Ethiopia came down in its entirety in 1996.
And, similar bridge structures overseen by this UK-based company in Ghana have also given way, which further highlights with grave urgency, the questionable engineering competence of Mabey and Johnson.

Sri Lanka has been ranked 162 in the latest press freedom ranking released by the Paris based Reporters without Borders today. The Asian countries that least respected press freedom were, predictably, North Korea, one of the infernal trio at the bottom of the rankings, Burma, which still suffers from prior censorship and imprisonment, and Laos, an unchanging dictatorship where no privately-owned media are permitted, RSF said.



Meanwhile Asia`s few democracies are well placed in the rankings. New Zealand (13th), Australia (16th) and Japan (17th) are all in the top 20. Respect for press freedom and the lack of targeted violence against journalists enable these three countries to be regional leaders.

The rift that split the UPFA during the recent Southern Provincial election erupted in full force at a Hilton dinner on Friday with provincial councillor Nishatha Mutuhettigama and Deputy Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage exchanging blows, eyewitnesses said.

They said fisticuffs broke out at the Royal College old boys` dinner after a heated exchange of words between the two politicians.

Prior to this, Mr. Mutuhettigama was seen talking to Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and UNP MPs Lakhsman Kiriella and Ravi Karunanayake all old Royalists. The controversial Southern politician who hit the headlines recently over his open clash with actress Anarkali Akarsha, who was also elected to the Southern Provincial Council on the UPFA ticket at last Saturday`s election, told the UNP politicians that he was invited to the dinner by a Royalist friend.

The fact that Gen. Fonseka`s speech came in the backdrop of a dialogue he had initiated with sections of the United National Party (UNP) leadership - and the newly formed Common Alliance, made matters worse. Readers will see the last two paragraphs of the General`s statement. In the penultimate paragraph he echoes the theme-song of the Opposition Alliance - the need to re-settle the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in the Wanni camps. In the final paragraph he makes but a formal muted acknowledgement to President Mahinda Rajapaksa `for the leadership` - that`s all, and then to the Defence Secretary it is an even more muted acknowledgment limited only to the `necessary support provided` to the war.

Lanka editor arrested
2009-10-17 17:43:12

The Editor of the Sinhalese language weekly Lanka Chandana Sirmalwatte was arrested a short while ago over a headline suggesting a serious rift between President Mahinda Rajapakse and former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka, a spokesperson for the newspaper said yesterday.

Mr. Sirimalwatte was picked up by a team of CID officials accompanied by the Homagama police at a play ground in Homagama, the spokesperson said.

Sat Oct 17, 2009 1:54am IST

* Trade preferences worth over $100 million at risk

* Sri Lanka does not fulfil criteria, sources say

* Major EU importers, retailers concerned

(Adds Sri Lanka reaction)

By Darren Ennis

BRUSSELS, Oct 16 (Reuters) - A European Union investigation has found Sri Lanka in breach of international human rights laws, meaning it is likely to lose concessions worth over $100 million for its top exports to Europe, EU sources said.

A large scale malicious attack on Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Sarath Fonseka has been planned states `Lanka Irida,` the Sinhalese weekend newspaper.

The attack has been planned on suspicion that Gen. Fonseka would contest the impending presidential election as the common candidate. Several Army officers who had been engaged in various irregularities and had been punished during Gen. Fonseka`s tenure in the Army and another Army officer expecting to be the Commander of the SL Army would be used in the malicious attack on the General that has been planned by the government states `Lanka Irida.` According to the plan various allegations would be fabricated against Gen. Fonseka and publish them. State media has also been informed not to publish any news or any of his speeches that would be advantageous to him.

anticorruptsl.com
lankanewsweb.com
lankaenews.com
lankatruth.com
mirisa.org

10 Oct 2009 04:01:00 GMT
Source: Human Rights Watch

(New York) - The Sri Lankan government should immediately release the 250,000 displaced Tamils still held in detention camps, Human Rights Watch said today. Deteriorating conditions, including a shortage of water since October 5, 2009, combined with the prospect of flooding during the imminent monsoon season, have led to rising tensions among camp residents and clashes with the military.
Human Rights Watch called on international donors such as Japan, the United States and European Union member states to send a clear message to the Government of Sri Lanka that continued detention of the displaced will have serious consequences for Sri Lanka`s relationship with the international community.

2009-10-08 18:51:49

Appointing General Sarath Fonseka as the secretary to the Ministry of Sports and Recreation is an insult to the Forces and a disrespect to the former Army Commander, JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti told in Parliament on Thursday.

He said that giving an Army Commander who led the final battle against terrorism a post as a ministry secretary is definitely a measure to insult him.

At the final UPFA mass rally held in Galle on Monday, Nisthantha Mutuhettigama had refused to come forward when his preferential number was announced. While the other candidates walked up to the special stage erected for the candidates, his seat remained vacant.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa flanked by his ministers had been on another podium. Wimal Weerawansa too had taken his place among the ministers a few seats away from the President. After some time Weerawansa had left the stage. At this point Mutuhettigama had emerged from no where and had dashed into the VIP stage and occupied the vacant seat amidst thunderous applause from his supporters in the audience. No effort however was taken by anybody to remove the controversial candidate from the place while the rest of the candidates were left wondering what had happened.