Author: TELO Admin

All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) Leader Rishad Bathiudeen revealed his intention to file legal action against former President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the Director of the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) over what he claims is an injustice committed against him. Bathiudeen, who was under investigation by the TID in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks, alleges coercion, intimidation, and false testimonies.

During his parliamentary statement, Bathiudeen expressed his intent to seek legal recourse against specific individuals involved in what he characterized as an orchestrated plan to file false charges against him. He asserted that high-ranking officials, including the Ministry Secretary, officers, and directors of the Industrial Development Board (IDB), were allegedly coerced into providing false testimony.

Bathiudeen claimed that the underlying motive was to imprison him for a period of five years, suggesting a calculated effort to influence elections by leveraging his potential incarceration. He further alleged harassment directed towards his entire family.

The ACMC Leader’s revelations shed light on the complex dynamics surrounding the investigations into individuals linked to the Easter Sunday attacks.

LONDON :A group of creditors holding Sri Lanka’s international bonds said on Friday it welcomed the country’s debt restructuring agreement with official creditors, though it said a lack of transparency on deals struck so far was regrettable.

The complaint underscores rising worries that a lack of visibility for private creditors around debt deals between indebted countries and their official creditors could derail or delay those nations’ efforts to finalise restructuring.

Sri Lanka and a group of its creditor nations, including Japan, France and India, on Wednesday reached an agreement in principle on a debt rework of $5.9 billion of outstanding public debt. That followed a deal between the country and the Export-Import Bank of China in October on about $4.2 billion of loans.

But the bondholder group, which represents creditors holding some of the country’s $12 billion of outstanding bonds, said a lack of transparency between public and private creditors was making it more difficult for them to strike a deal with Sri Lanka that was compliant with IMF rules and that provided “fair and equitable” debt treatment.

“The group finds it regrettable that there remains such a significant lack of transparency on the part of official sector creditors despite the group’s efforts so far to act as a constructive counterparty,” the Ad Hoc Group of Bondholders said in an emailed statement.

Last week, objections from official creditors derailed an agreement in principle between Zambia and its bondholders to restructure the African nation’s international debt. The group of Zambia’s bilateral creditors, including France, China and India, said the terms of that proposed deal were not comparable to the relief official creditors offered.

Zambia, as a low-income nation, is reworking its debt under the G-20-designed Common Framework, which makes its process slightly more rigid than Sri Lanka’s. But investors and experts said the issues around lack of information sharing was making it tough for all private lenders to craft debt reworks that public creditors deem comparable to their own offerings.

“It’s possibly more problematic than it was designed to be in terms of actually being able to achieve these debt renegotiations,” Robert Simpson of Pictet Asset Management said.

“We saw it with Zambia, that, you know, once the details are out, one creditor group actually can put a spanner in the works in terms of the entire process.”

The Sri Lanka Ad Hoc Group of bondholders said it remained committed to reaching an agreement with the Sri Lankan authorities as quickly as possible to find a sustainable solution to the country’s international bond debt challenges.

The Ad Hoc Group is advised by Rothschild & Co on the financial side and by White & Case LLP on legal matters.

Source: Reuters

A woman claiming to be daughter of slain LTTE leader Prabhakaran, addressed Lankan Tamils and she assured that the Tamil Eelam’s fight for freedom will continue.

A video of a woman, claiming to be the daughter of the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Prabhakaran, surfaced on social media on the occasion of “Maveerar Naal”, a Remembrance Day observed by Sri Lankan Tamils worldwide to honour the sacrifice of LTTE cadres.

Identifying herself as Dwaraka Prabhakaran, the woman expressed her willingness to reveal her identity to the world on an important day. “I am here after overcoming numerous difficulties and betrayals. One day, I hope to visit Eelam too and serve my people,” the saree-clad woman can be heard saying in the video.

The video was shared on social media platforms almost 14 years after Sri Lankan military declared that Prabhakaran and his family were dead in the final days of war at Mullivaikkal.

In her 12-minute-long speech in Sri Lankan Tamil, the woman said that Sri Lankan government sought support from powerful nations when they were unable to confront the LTTE directly. She further emphasised that LTTE’s fight for freedom will continue, emphasising unity in diversity for political needs.

Addressing the Lankans abroad, she urged them to take care of the marginalised Tamils in Sri Lanka. Expressing the belief that a separate Tamil Eelam would provide autonomy and development, the woman stated that it was the national leader’s viewpoint.

Furthermore, the woman clarified that the Tamil struggle is not against the Sinhalese people but against the government and corrupt politicians, who manipulated innocents against them.

She hoped that the Sinhalese would understand their cause, emphasising the alignment of ideologies despite differing paths.

Sources close to the Sri Lankan government said that they had received information suggesting the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate a video claiming to be Dwaraka Prabhakaran. The government is looking into the matter.

Around 700 families of missing persons from around the world connected to share their experiences at the third International Conference for Families of Missing Persons on November 21-23.

The forum brought together families whose loved ones have gone missing due to armed conflict, migration, or other situations of violence.

“Thirty-seven families of missing persons from all communities in Sri Lanka joined from Colombo, Vavuniya and Batticaloa to share their experience and exchange their views with families from other countries,” a statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sri Lanka said.

The event was hosted by ICRC delegations and Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies through 44 conference hubs around the world.

“The conference provided a virtual platform for families to see how others around the world are coping with the uncertainty, understand the challenges, learn about the support services available to them and how families can help each other.”

The participating families were also given the opportunity to interact with the Global Alliance for the Missing, a group of 12 member states established in 2021 to advocate on the issue of missing persons at diplomatic level.

The conference highlighted the urgency of providing answers about the fate of missing persons, the importance of the participation of families of missing persons in the search process, and the need for dignified treatment of families of missing persons.

The significance of keeping the issue of missing persons on national and global agendas was also pointed out.

Sri Lanka has seen tens of thousands of its citizens disappear without a trace in several insurgencies over the last five decades, most notably during the civil war.