The Sri Lankan police have filed a case against 5 Tamils in Keppapulavu for holding a black flag protest on Independence Day. Families in the village have been protesting against the military's ongoing occupation of land for almost one year. Mulliyavalai police accused the 5 protesters of breaching the peace. They have been ordered before Mullaitivu court on February 12.
Voting remains steady as residents across the North-East cast their votes in Sri Lanka's local government elections. Armed police and military personnel were seen on the streets near polling booths as voting took place.
Under Secretary for Political Affairs Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. said that his government “commends the steps that Sri Lanka has taken to date toward justice, reconciliation, and accountability” in a speech delivered in Washington this week.
At least 500 individuals, including dozens of candidates in Sri Lanka’s upcoming local elections, have been arrested for violating election laws, according to a Sri Lankan police spokesperson. Sri Lanka’s Police Spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said the total number of people arrested dates from December 9th, until this week with a total of at least 183 cases related to election law violations and 610 cases related to election complaints having been reported. At least 52 of those cases have been reported with regards to assaults and threats, he added, noting that 61 candidates had been arrested so...
More British parliamentarians have joined the call for Sri Lanka’s Defence Attaché to the United Kingdom to have his diplomatic immunity revoked, as uproar after the Sri Lankan official repeatedly made a throat-slitting gesture towards the Tamil protesters in London continues Theresa Villiers, Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet, released a statement on Friday stating, “I strongly condemn the actions of Brigadier Priyanka Fernando directed at peaceful Tamil protesters”. “His actions have caused real distress to a number of my Tamil constituents, a number of whom fled Sri Lanka because of...
British Tamils took to the streets on Friday to protest against the Sri Lankan military official who made throat-slitting gestures at Tamil protestors last week. The protest, which saw participation from a broad spectrum of UK Tamil organisations, started on Friday afternoon at the Sri Lankan High Commission, the spot where Brigadier Priyanka Fernando made throat-slitting gestures at Tamils who were protesting Sri Lanka's independence day on Sunday.
Tamil diaspora organisations today were unanimous in their call for Sri Lanka's Defence Attaché to be expelled from the UK and be declared 'persona non grata'. In a joint letter to the UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, key Tamils diaspora organisations urged him to take swift action on the issue. "We, the undersigned Diaspora Organisations, write to make this very urgent request to declare the Sri Lankan Military Attaché, Brigadier ANDIGE PRIYANKA INDUNIL FERNANDO, a “persona non grata” for committing serious offences under the British law, abuse of diplomatic immunity in the UK and for being complicit in the war crimes & crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka." The letter was signed by the British Tamil Conservatives (BTC), British Tamils Forum (BTF), Global Tamil Forum (GTF), International Centre for the Prevention and Prosecution of Genocide (ICPPG), Tamils Coordinating Committee (TCC-UK), Tamils for Labour, Tamil Friends of the Liberal Democrats, Tamil Information Centre (TIC), Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), Tamil Solidarity (TS).
The Sri Lankan navy arrested seven Tamil Nadu fishermen on Thursday in the latest round of arrests of Indian fishermen. The men were arrested for allegedly poaching in waters off the coast of Thalaimannar. The fishermen have been handed over to the Assistant Director of Fisheries in Mannar for legal action.
Sri Lanka's Defence Attache who was filmed motioning the slitting of one's throat to Tamils protesting in London on Sunday said his gesture was to indicate 'it's all over'. “I only showed them it’s all over from my gesture, When I showed the Sri Lanka badge it was to tell them this your land not Tamil Eelam," he told the Sinhala language paper Riviru in an interview.
The European Commission this week added Sri Lanka to its blacklist of countries at risk of money laundering. The move came following a vote in the European parliament on Wednesday, with 357 votes in support of the motion, 283 against and 26 abstentions. Tunisia and Trinidad and Tobago were also added to the list. Read more here .