• Malaysian activist acquitted over No Fire Zone screening

    Mar 09

    Malaysian activist Lena Hendry was acquitted of censorship charges in relation to a screening of the No Fire Zone documentary which she organised.

    Magistrate Mohd Rehab Mohd Aris said that the prosecution failed to establish a “prima facie” case against Ms Hendry and thus she need not enter her defence, the Malay Mail reported.

    The activist could have been jailed for up to three years on charges under Section 6(1)(b) of the Malaysian  Film Censorship Act 2002 for screening the No Fire Zone documentary without the approval from the Censorship Board.

    Her lawyer New Sin Yew was grateful that the court agreed with their arguments against what he described as a “frivolous” charge.

  • Sri Lanka's parliament converted into constitutional assembly
    Sri Lanka's parliament on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution converting the parliament into a constitutional assembly to draft a new constitution.
  • Protestors highlight importance of eradicating violence against children

    Tamil protestors gathered outside the Northern Province Chief Minister's office on Wednesday, demanding officials take action against violence against children.

  • Sri Lanka is in the process of repealing PTA - Mangala

    Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said to parliament on Tuesday that the government was working on repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

    Mr. Samaraweera said the Law Commission of Sri Lanka, was entrusted with the task of formulating an alternative draft law in keeping with international practices, and had just submitted a draft.

  • Sampanthan slams continued detention of Tamil political detainees

    TNA leader, and leader of the opposition R Sampanthan on Tuesday slammed the government for its continuing failure to release Tamil political detainees and urged Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena to release them immediately.

  • Government says 16 Tamil political prisoners rejected rehabilitation

    Rehabilitation and Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan said on Tuesday that out of 218 Tamil political detainees, 39 persons were, in November last year, released on bail. 19 of those were recommended for rehabilitation before their eventual release, however only three had accepted the controversial programme.

  • Hiring of Sri Lankan military as guards in Malaysia criticised
    The Malaysian government's decision to consider hiring former Sri Lankan military personnel as security guards was heavily criticised by the Malaysian Indian Congress' youth head, C Sivarraajh on Wednesday.

    Highlighting the human rights allegations engulfing the Sri Lankan military, Mr Sivarraajh was quoted by the Star Online as saying, "any move to hire them must take into consideration the sensitivities of the Tamil community in the country."

    On Saturday the deputy home minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed said Malaysia's existing ruling of only being able to hire Nepali citizens as guards may soon be lifted.

  • Valvettithurai man arrested at Colombo airport after deportation
    A man from Valvettithurai, was arrested on arrival by Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department at Bandaranaike International Airport on Tuesday, following his deportation from Australia, reported Ceylon Today Online.

    The man is believed to be 31 years old.

    See here for more.

  • Two arrested in Jaffna for gold smuggling

    The Sri Lankan navy arrested two men in Jaffna for attempting to smuggle gold to India this week.

    The men were attempting to smuggle almost 7kg of gold, worth an estimated 34.5 million Sri Lankan rupees, in the Madagal area according to reports.

    The smuggling of gold is thought to be closely linked to the drug trade in the Tamil North-East, which has been plagued by drug addiction since the end of the armed conflict almost 7 years ago.

  • BBS alleges Sinhalese being ‘chased away’ from North-East
    Sinhala Buddhist organisation Bodu Bala Sena alleged that a plan was underway to “chase Sinhalese people away” from the Tamil North-East, as part of a set of proposals by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to merge the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

    “The initiative was launched from March 4. The Northern Provincial Council and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is backing this move to chase Sinhalese people away and preventing the resettlement of them,” claimed BBS chief Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, whi was arrested last month for hate speech against Muslims on the island.

    “There is an ongoing process of resettling Tamils in lands which were taken from the Sinhalese people forcibly. The TNA had forcibly stopped building houses in Kokilai Sinhala fishing village. Kokilai, Sampath Nuwara and Weli Oya are ancient lands of the Sinhalese,” he added.
  • Gold taken by military from Tamils missing, Ranil orders probe
    The Sri Lankan prime minister on Wednesday called for a probe into 40kg of missing gold from a total of 150kg of gold taken by the Sri Lankan military from Tamils home during the armed conflict as hundreds of thousands had to flee their homes.
  • Sri Lanka military donates land to 'needy' military personnel

    The Sri Lankan Air Force has handed over two plots of land it owns in the south of the island, to "needy, serving personnel", as distress relief.

    The commander of the air force authorised the donation of the land in Ruppawattha, Matara and the deeds were handed over to the servicemen at a ceremony on February 29 in Colombo.

  • Army complete construction of 'model village' for displaced people

    The Sri Lankan military has completed the construction of what it calls a "model village", built for Tamils who were displaced from nearby Keppapilavu village after the army forced them out.

    Sri Lanka Army Engineers and troops serving under the Security Force Headquarters - Mullaittivu (SFHQ-MLT) officially completed the construction of 287 new houses at "Keppapilavu Model Village", in the Mullaithivu District, with the ceremonial opening of the remaining 19 homes and a new medical centre on February 25.

  • Women's Day marked in North-East with demonstrations against sexual violence

    Marking International Women's Day, women's organisations held a demonstrations in Jaffna and Batticaloa on Tuesday, demanding an end to sexual violence against women and children.     The demonstration comes after a number of incidents of sexual violence against Tamil girls by Tamil men in the North-East.

    Batticaloa


    Holding placards and black flags, demonstrators demanded an end to sexual violence against women and girls.

  • Body found in Vaharai
    The body of a young man was found by the Vaharai coast line on Tueday.

    Local police have identified the body as that of a 26 year old driver, named Rasathurai Douglas.

    The body is currently at Batticaloa hospital for post-mortem examination, reported BattiNews.

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