The TNA MP and leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi, Mavai Senathirajah has promised three hospitalised Tamil political prisoners that he will take up their cases with the Sri Lankan President.

The parliamentarian visited the three detainees in hospital in Anuradhapuram, where they were admitted on Sunday following severe deteriorations in their health.

The three have been hunger-striking for sixteen days in protest of the transferral of their cases from Vavuniya High Court to the Sinhala district of Anuradhapuram.

The Sri Lankan government has increased its budget allocation towards defence to USD1.9 billion (LKR290.7 billion) in its latest set of proposals presented to parliament yesterday.

The proposal marks a 2.3% increase on its defence budget from last year.

LKR 260.7 billion will be put towards “military operations and salaries”, whilst a further LKR30 billion is ring-fenced for “capital funding or military procurement” reports Jane’s 360.

The Sri Lankan army alone is set to receive LKR 156 billion in the latest proposal.

The increase in spending makes the defence budget the top expenditure for the Sri Lankan government.

A Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who led a mob to attack a group of Rohingya asylum seekers last month has been released on bail, reports Colombo Gazette.

The monk, identified as Akmeemana Dayarathana, is reportedly from the Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa or Sinhalese National Force.

He was part of a mob that stormed a UN safe house in Mount Lavinia that was housing Rohingya asylum seekers fleeing conflict in Myanmar. The refugees have since been moved to Boosa detention centre.

A senior Buddhist monk claimed that both the Sri Lankan president and prime minister personally reassured him that a new constitution for the island would continue to give Buddhism the foremost place and would protect the state’s unitary status.

The Mahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter Thibbatuwave Siddartha Sri Sumangala said both government leaders stated the new constitution will “never cause any harm to the country”.

ColomboPage quoted the senior monk as stating the Maha Sangha has the “full confidence in the President and they can believe the President's statements”.

The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) called on Sri Lanka’s Attorney General to not abuse his prosecutorial discretionary powers by transferring the cases of three Tamil political prisoners to a court in the South.

The Attorney General’s justification of security concerns for moving the cases was “difficult to believe” said the TCSF, in a statement released on Tuesday.

It went on to add,

UK Conservative MPs at the 2017 party conference in Manchester last week reiterated their commitment to ensuring justice for the Tamils in Sri Lanka and recognition of the genocide Tamils faced. 

Paul Scully (right), Zac Goldsmith (left)

Speaking at a side event organised by the British Tamil Conservatives (BTC), MPs called on the international community to do more to ensure the Sri Lankan government fulfilled the commitments made in UN resolution 30/1. 

Protestors in Vavuniya called on Monday for the unconditional release of Tamil political prisoners.

Tamils in Jaffna protested for the release of all political prisoners and called for the Sri Lankan attorney-general to overturn the decision to transfer Tamil detainees’ cases from Vavuniya to Anuradhapuram.

The Sri Lankan attorney-general has denied Tamil political prisoners’ requests to keep their cases in Vavuniya, citing concerns about witness protection.

Three detainees at the Anuradhapura prison were admitted to hospital yesterday after their hunger-strike led to a severe deterioration in their health.

They were protesting against the transferral of their cases from Vavuniya High Court to Anuradhapuram, with the language barrier a key issue as well as the financial strain on their families to travel and to secure legal representatives that were willing to travel.

Swiss government officials met with members of the Sri Lankan military in Jaffna last month, where they discussed the ‘rehabilitation’ of former LTTE cadres.