Investors in Sri Lanka are bracing themselves for Colombo to default on bond repayments, reports the Financial Times today, as experts warn that the crisis on the island looks set to worsen.

The FT reports that Sri Lanka owes US$15bn in bonds out of a total of US$45bn long-term debt, with US$7bn due this year in interest and debt repayments.

“They are demonstrating an amazing willingness to pay,” said Richard House, head of emerging market debt at Allianz Global Investors.

Eight people who were arrested in January 2019 based on suspicions that they were in possession of Claymore bombs under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) have been released on bail. 

The released include five men and three women who were supported legally by the Centre for Human Rights and Development in Sri Lanka (CHRD).

The CHRD filed a petition in the High Court against the violation of the fundamental rights of the arrested and it also appealed to the Defence Ministry and the Office of the Attorney General for their release.

In an unprecedented move, Sri Lankan authorities sold 135 boats belonging to Tamil Nadu fishermen to the highest bidder in an auction that took place earlier today in Jaffna. 

The sale yielded more than five million Sri Lankan rupees to the authorities with 1.6 million paid on the spot. The winner of the auction is supposed to pay the remainder in instalments. 

The legality of the sale is questionable as the boats were confiscated from Tamil Nadu fishermen based on allegations that they crossed the maritime boundary between India and Sri Lanka whilst fishing.   

Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force (STF) have shot and injured at least two men in Jaffna last night.

The shooting took place in Thenmaradchi, at approximately 19:30 on Sunday evening.

The injured have been admitted to Chavakachcheri Base Hospital.

The STF personnel who opened fire were reportedly arrested this morning and produced before the Chavakachcheri court, before being released on bail.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Sri Lanka’s international trading partners to consider imposing targeted sanctions on officials accused of rights abuses and to leverage trading schemes in order to pressure Colombo to comply with human rights obligations, in a report examining the much-criticised Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) released today.

The 59-page report slams Sri Lanka’s use of the PTA, detailing how it has been utilised to detain Tamils and Muslims and supress civil society on the island.

British Tamils organised a protest against the Sri Lankan Independence Day in front of the country’s High Commission in Hyde Park Gardens, London. 

A large number of people gathered at the spot last Friday, despite the damp London weather, to mark the day as a “black day” for Tamils. 

The protesters held flags of Tamil Eelam and shouted slogans denouncing Sri Lanka’s continued subjugation of Tamils. 

Sri Lanka’s former human rights commissioner, Ambika Satkunanathan, rebukes a defamatory statement released by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry which attacked her submission to the European Parliament claiming it “reminiscent of LTTE propaganda”.

Muslim human rights lawyer, Hejaaz Hizbullah has finally been granted bail by the Court of Appeal after being detained for over 20 months and initially denied bail by Puttalam High Court.

He was initially detained by the Criminal Investigation Department on 14 April 2020 under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act under dubious allegations that he aided the Easter Sunday attack. These charges later changed to allegations that he had promoted racial hatred. Hizbullah has spent 10 months in custody before being charged.

Following Sri Lanka’s 74^th Independence Day, Tamil parliamentarians have called on Britain’s Minister for South Asia, Lord Tariq Ahmad to take “meaningful action” on Sri Lanka as they list over 800 cases of abuse on the island, with 38 cases from January 2022 alone.

A signature campaign was launched in Kilinochchi yesterday, demanding the Sri Lankan government to repeal the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). 

Tamil National Alliance MP S Shritharan and Karachchi Pradeshiya Sabha chairman Velamalikithan were amongst those who signed the petition to repeal the legislation which has been used disproportionately against Tamils for decades and has been linked to torture on the island.