Sri Lanka Brief -23 July 2012
IN THIS ISSUE:
Rule of Law: Minister Bathiudeen threat to judiciary
Torture in Prison: Killing of Nimalaruban
Free & Fair elections: Violence on the rice, EC powerless
Militarisation: Threats and intimidations continue
Blog of the week: http://nevillejayaweera.blogspot.ch
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Into the turbulence of Jaffnaby Neville JayaweeraA Sinhala conquistador I must confess, that being chosen as the pivot of N. Q. Dias’s master plan to enforce the Official Language Act throughout Jaffna, to encircle the North with military camps and bring the Tamils to heel, released in me a surge of gung-ho energy, and it was in a spirit of a Sinhala Conquistador, resolved to plant the Lion Flag and Sinhala supremacy among a troublesome Tamil people, that I sallied forth. Except that, for a coat of shining armour I had only a thick coat of juvenile hubris and for my steed a clapped out motor car. Forty years on, I cringe in shame and disbelief when I recall that a Sinhala Sunday paper of that time, referring to my posting to Jaffna, called me the new Sapumal Kumaraya. I have no plea to offer in mitigation except the vacuous ego’s eternal vulnerability to delusions of grandeur…..http://nevillejayaweera.blogspot.ch/2012/03/into-turbulence-of-jaffna_30.html?spref=fb
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Rule of Law: Minister Rishad Bathiudeen threat to judiciary
Lawyers in North protest against SL Minister Badurdeen following violence in Mannaar
Lawyers and legal employees of Magistrate’s Courts in North on Thursday protested against the SL Minister of Trade, Rishard Badurdeen, for inciting community violence at Koanthaippiddi jetty in Mannaar and for causing mob violence against Mannaar Courtcomplex on Wednesday. Read more »
Courts close in protest
Work at almost all the courts around the country came to a standstill today in protest over allegations that government Minister Rishard Badhudeen had threatened a judge in Mannar. Read more »
Related: Judges and Lawyers want action against political hooligans
Remove Minister Badureen & facilitate criminal prosecution – LfD
Responding to the threats exerted by the Cabinet Minister Rishad Badurdeen on the Mannar Magistrate (Mr. A. Judeson), the Lawyers for Democracy (LFD) urges the President to remove the said Minister with immediate effect. Confirmed information discloses that the Minister has interfered with the course of justice and threatened the Magistrate and thereafter the court houses came under attack. Read more »
Related : Hakeem denounces threatening of Mannar judge; Arrest the Minister-BASL . Read more »
Mannar: Disaster waiting to happen, Editorial, The Island
Mannar is said to have returned to normal following Wednesday’s violent protests, which left several police personnel injured and a court house and a police station damaged. But, let’s not lull ourselves into a false sense of complacency. Read more »
CID collects evidence from phone calls to judge
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has begun collecting ‘scientific and technical’ evidence from phone calls which Minister Rishad Bathiudeen is alleged to have made to Mannar Magistrate and Additional District Judge Anthonipillai Judeson, threatening him to change a court order.
Torture in Prison: Killing of Nimalaruban
Will Nimalaruban’s body be handed over to parents for conducting last rites in hometown?
Riots and violence inside prisons are not novel occurrences inSri Lanka. It was only in January this year that a group of inmates at the Welikada Prison rioted, and in the events that ensued, 26 inmates and several prison guards were injured.
AG informs SC: Nimalaruban’s body will be released to parents
The Attorney General yesterday filed a motion informing the Supreme Court that the body of Ganeshan Nimala Ruban would be released to his parents on July 23, 2012.
Free & Fair elections: Violence on the rise, EC powerless
Election monitors have complained to the Elections Department over schools in the Anuradhapura District being used to hold political rallies. Read more »
Threats and intimidation have already started: Sumanthiran
Tamil National Alliance National list Member of Parliament M.A Sumanthiran spoke to the Daily Mirror on the TNA preparations for the Eastern Provincial Council Elections, the commitment of the party to the Parliamentary Select Committee and the Militarisation of the North. Read more »
With provincial council elections slated for September, a government-backed recruitment drive has begun in three provinces — Eastern, Sabaragamuwa and North Central. Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya told the Sunday Times he was helpless over the matter except to direct the complaints to the Public Service Commission. Read more »
”President Rajapaksa should be given the credit for innovatively replacing the term “elections” with “election seasons”- where particular elections such as Provincial Councils and Local Authorities are held from time to time – and sometimes, throughout the year. In strict legal interpretation, such electioneering is not prohibited in law but undoubtedly undesirable for many reasons.” Read more »
Northern Provincial Council Elections should have been held soon after the war ended – The Hindu
In remarks to this newspaper, President Mahinda Rajapaksa ofSri Lankahas said the elections to the country’s Northern provincial council will be held only in September 2013 because the government needs time to update 30-year-old electoral rolls.
Militarisation: threats & Intimidations continue
Jaffna peaceful protest disrupted by masked men
A peaceful protest held with the participation of Tamil political and social activists in Jaffna was disrupted on Wednesday (18) by men believed to be working for Sri Lanka’s Military Intelligence (MI). Read more »
SL military harasses, confiscates ICRC clearance of ex-LTTE members in Vanni
A psy-ops squad, operated by SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has started to ‘interrogate’ and harass former fighters and members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who have been released after the detention and so-called rehabilitation programme. Read more »
Related: Security sections look for ‘intelligence’ in Killinochchi Read more »
‘Crude oil attacks’ target TNPF organisers of civil protests: Gajendrakumar
The house of Rajappu Edward Anandarajah, the president of All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) and the vice president of the Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF), situated in Nelliyadi in Vadamaraadchi has also been attacked almost simultaneously as a squad targeted the house of Kandeepan Thangarajah, the central committee member of the TNPF in the early hours of Tuesday. Read more »
SL Military intelligence alleged of attacking house of prominent Judge in Jaffna
unknown attackers, believed to be Sri Lankan military intelligence operatives, on Wednesday night attacked the house of Point Pedro District Judge Ms Srinithy Nandasekaran with coconut fruit buds (kurumpaddi) that are hard as stones, causing damage to the roof of her residence. Read more »
Other:
Executive Presidential System in Sri Lanka – Six major pitfalls
”In this regard, I wish to share some observations that I have made about the executive presidential system that operates in Sri Lankaand its future. This I hope may be of use to those who wish to have it abolished as well as those who want it retained. ”
By Victor Ivan Read more »
Only criminals are abducted by white vans – Gota
When a daily newspaper, after publishing that several ‘white van’ abductions had been carried out during the recent past, had asked the Secretary to the Ministry of Defense Gotabhaya Rajapaksa regarding this, he had responded by stating only criminals are abducted by white vans. Read more »
TNA’s Sumanthiran drops opposition to Govt.’s land notice – Govt undetake not to implement
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran has withdrawn an application in the Court of Appeal, challenging the Government’s controversial land circular for the North and East.This was on the basis of an undertaking by the Government not to implement provisions of the circular.Mr. Sumanthiran said he reserved the right to file a fresh application, if it was necessary later. Read more »
Question of Land is Intimately Linked to the National Question in Sri Lanka
Prof. N. Shanmugaratnam
Opening Remarks by Professor N. Shanmugaratnam at the workshop on ‘Land Policy and Practices and the Political Process in Post-war Sri Lanka’,University ofOslo, 22 June 2012. I am thankful to the Norwegian Tamil Study Forum for inviting me to address this Workshop and am looking forward to listening to the main speakers.
Rupavahini pockets public funds donated for tsunami relief
The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, the country’s national television network with the widest outreach, has caused raised eyebrows among Parliamentarians in the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), the watchdog body that monitors finances in the state sector. The reason will no doubt raise many an eyebrow among the public too. The SLRC called for public donations after the devastating tsunami in 2005.
The end.
