The international human rights organisation Front Line Defenders has issued an urgent appeal against the targeting of human rights lawyer and head of law at Jaffna University, Dr Kumaravadivel Guruparan.

Last week Guruparan was barred from practising as a lawyer by the Sri Lankan University Grants Commission (UGC) at the instigation of the Sri Lankan military. The move is seen as a direct reprisal for his representation of victims in the Navatkuli Habeas Corpus case, related to the disappearance of 24 Tamil youths from military custody in 1996.

As votes are being counted for Sri Lanka’s presidential election, turnout reached as high as 83% percent in some of the Tamil districts in the North-East, according to early figures.

See turnout figures from districts in the North-East below.

A Tamil man was stabbed and other Tamil voters attacked in Kegalle, as voting took place across the island in Sri Lanka’s presidential elections.

The attack has led to tension in the Deraniyagala and led to at least one person being admitted to hospital. The stabbing reportedly occurred after a group of unknown persons broke into a house, whilst others were attacked after refusing to vote for a specific candidate.

See more from BBC Tamil here.

Polls in Sri Lanka’s presidential elections has now officially closed, with tens of thousands of Tamils across the North-east having cast their votes.

Turnout was reportedly above 50% across many districts in the North-East, as votes begin to get counted. 

Across the island, turnout is expected to be at around 80%.

There were at least 139 election related violations across the island, between the open of polls at 7am and 1pm, according to the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV).

The majority of violations were illegal campaigning as well as intimidation and influencing of voters.

The highest number of violations were reported in the Southern district of Matara, the Western district of Gampaha and the North-Western district of Puttalam. High numbers of violations were also reported in the Southern district of Hambantota, the North-Central district of Anuradhapura and Monaragala district in the Uva province.

Tens of thousands of Tamil voters have cast their ballots early across the North-East amidst a ramped-up security presence and heightened tensions, as Sri Lanka’s presidential elections were underway on Saturday.

Tamil voters have reportedly begun stocking up on supplies and groceries, amidst fears of violence in the wake of a close election between the two leading candidates Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sajith Premadasa.  

Unidentified gunmen fired shots and pelted stones at a bus carrying displaced Muslim voters as it travelled to Mannar on Saturday, despite the massive Sri Lankan security presence in place as Sri Lanka’s presidential elections began to get underway.

Angad Singh, journalist at Vice News, writes that Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bombings made Gotabaya Rajapaksa, an alleged war criminal, a front runner in the upcoming Presidential election. 

<p>An eminent group of Sinhala Buddhist monks issued a statement this week, calling on Sri Lankans to vote for a presidential candidate who will preserve the unitary status of the island and "defeat all forces that are attempting to divide this land".</p>

<p>At least 50 Sri Lankan officials deployed to a polling centre in Royal College, Colombo have been hospitalised due to food poisoning.</p> <p>Over 150,000 officials have been deployed to 12,600 polling booths and nearly 50 counting centres across the country.</p> <p>Approximately, 15.9 million eligible voters will take to the polls this Saturday.</p> <p>Read more from the Straight's Time <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/food-poisoning-hits-sri-la…">here</a>.</p>