A young Tamil man from Jaffna among several other youngsters, were brutally attacked by drunk off-duty police officers and viciously dragged to the local police station.

23-year-old Mutturasa Kannadasan, was attacked in his home in Araly, Jaffna and taken to Vaddukoddai police station, around 8pm on Saturday (18^th April). 

Sri Lanka’s defence secretary rejected reports that the Indian army would be deployed to Sri Lanka as part of regional coronavirus prevention efforts, stating that the Sri Lankan military “can handle (the) coronavirus threat effectively”.

One of the three members of Sri Lanka’s election commission expressed his fear of disagreeing with the war crimes accused head of the army, ahead of a meeting that took place on Monday which announced the scheduling of parliamentary elections.

In a piece published on Saturday, Ratnajeevan Hoole said that the inclusion of army chief Shavendra Silva, who currently leads Sri Lanks’s coronavirus rask force, and Director General of Health Services Anil Jasinghe was to “arm-twist the Commission into agreeing to 28 May for elections”.

The Indian High Commission in Colombo has denied reports appearing in the India press, which claimed that Delhi was preparing to send troops to Sri Lanka as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Press Trust of India quoted “official sources” as stating the Indian army had prepared several “rapid response teams for dispatching to friendly neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan”.

At last three Fundamental Right violation petitions have been filed this week, challenging the Sri Lankan president’s decision to pardon a soldier who was convicted of massacring eight Tamil civilians, including three children.

Tamil families of the murdered villagers filed a petition through their Attorney-at-Law Kesavan Sajanthan, whilst the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternative and its Executive-Director Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu reportedly filed a separate petition.  

<p>The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) called on Sri Lanka’s authorities to repeal and replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), following the arbitrary arrest and detention of prominent lawyer.</p> <p>In their statement, the ICJ have urged Sri Lanka to “respect human rights in the conduct of their investigation of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, including ensuring that investigations into the alleged involvement of Sri Lankan lawyer, Hejaaz Hizbullah, are conducted in accordance with due process and fair trial guarantees under international law.”</p>

<p>Sri Lanka’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak was “primarily designed to promote the military and to popularise the military interventions for future political gains of the President,” the Alliance of Independent Professionals (AIP) said.</p> <p>In their statement, the AIP stated that the Sri Lankan government had militarised what should have been a public health response. Sri Lanka’s Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) clashed with the military as General Shavendra Silva, accused war criminal, was appointed to lead the overall response.</p>

As we mark one year since the Easter Sunday bombings, we remember the children killed in the bombing of Zion church in Batticaloa.

Churches, temples and mosques across the North-East marked one year since the Easter Sunday attacks today, in a series of commemorative events held under a military-enforced curfew.

In Vavuniya, Sri Lankan soldiers were stationed outside churches as a remembrance ceremony was underway.