Category: Breaking News

Four suspects have been arrested by the Kolonna police over setting ablaze a luxury hotel owned by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s youngest son Rohitha Rajapaksa on May 10.

Police said the suspects were arrested on Monday and Tuesday for stealing items and setting on fire to the ‘Green Eco Lodge’ Hotel on May 10 situated at Gongalakanda in Kolonna, Embilipitiya, close to Sinharajah.

The suspects aged 25 and 50 years were identified as residents of Kolonna.

Soon after the luxury hotel was set on fire by angry protestors on May 10, reports surfaced that the hotel belonged to one of Mahinda Rajapaksas’s sons. Some media reported that the hotel belonged to Yoshitha Rajapaksa which was immediately denied by him. However police investigations have revealed that the hotel belonged to Rohitha Rajapaksa, the third son, who remained tight lipped when reports surfaced that the hotel belonged to his brother.

Rohitha did not hold any official position during his father’s tenure as the Prime Minister although he was often seen in Temple Trees and has often been questioned on his source of income. There are no reports of him being employed.

Investigations are ongoing to arrest more suspects connected to the arson attack.

The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution abolishes the independence of the Judiciary and the powers vested in the Auditor General and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) will be limited as well, said Attorney-at-Law Nagananda Kodituwakku.

The Supreme Court commenced hearing of the nine petitions challenging the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution yesterday (22) before the three-judge bench consisting of Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Justices Buwaneka Aluvihare and Arjuna Obeysekera.

The hearings adjourned until today (23). The petitions were filed in Supreme Court on 18 August, challenging certain provisions of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. Secretary of the ‘Vinivida Peramuna,’ Kodituwakku, who was among the petitioners, filed a Special Determination Petition with the Attorney General named as the respondent.

Other petitioners are G. Sooriyaarachchi, Captain Anil Sumesha Amarasekara, Tissa Bandara Ratnayake, H.S. Kumara, Herath Dissanayake, Jayantha Kulatunga, S.M. Thushan Devinda, Attorney-at-Law Nuwan Bellantudawe, Gunadasa Sooriyaarachchi Amarasekara, D.B. Dahanayake and Ven. Ananda Sagara Thera. It was stated in the petition of Nagananda Kodituwakku that according to Article 41A (1) of the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, there shall be a Constitutional Council comprising the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Opposition Leader, an MP appointed by the President, two MPs nominated by both the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader, a professional nominated by the Organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka, a person nominated by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, a professor of a State University nominated by the University Grants Commission, appointed by the President.

The petitioner further stated that the 22nd Amendment provides that the appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal could only be done upon the recommendations made by the President to the said Constitutional Council and upon the approval of the Constitutional Council which is an interference with judicial independence and would subject the Judiciary to be under the Executive.

Thereby, he sought an order declaring that the relevant provision is in contravention to Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution regarding sovereignty of the people and the exercise of the sovereignty and affects judicial independence, while requesting for notice to be issued on the Attorney General. The Petition was filed in accordance with Article 121 of the Constitution.

Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100)1 increased to 66.7% in July 2022 from 58.9% in June 2022.

This increase in Yo-Y inflation was mainly driven by the monthly increases in both Food and Non-Food categories.

Accordingly, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 82.5% in July 2022 from 75.8% in June 2022, while Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 52.4% in July 2022 from 43.6% in June 2022.

The monthly change of NCPI was recorded at 5.57% in July 2022 due to price increases observed in items of both Food and Non-Food categories which were 2.42% and 3.15%, respectively.

Accordingly, within the Food category, increases were observed in the prices of milk powder, rice, fresh fish, biscuits, and chicken.

However, prices of vegetables, coconut oil, and coconut decreased during the month.

Further, within the Non-Food category, increases were observed in prices of Transport (Bus fare, petrol, and diesel), Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (Washing soap), and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels (Materials for maintenance) sub-categories during the month.

Meanwhile, annual average inflation rose to 25.9% in July 2022 from 20.8% in June 2022.

The core inflation (Y-o-Y), which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy increased to 57.3% in July 2022 from 49.3% in June 2022, while annual average core inflation increased to 21.3% in July 2022 from 16.8% in June 2022.

The proposed ferry service between India and Sri Lanka is expected to be launched this year, Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy said.

He told the Assembly the Indian Government hopes to launch the ferry service between the Karaikal Port and Kankesanthurai Port this year.

Presenting the Budget for 2022-23, Rangasamy also said that under the Sagarmala scheme, it was proposed to commence commercial cargo handling operation at the Puducherry Port, in association with Chennai Port Trust this year.

“It is proposed to invite Expression of Interest (EoI) from firms for operating passenger and cargo ship and promoting other allied activities in the Puducherry Port,” he said.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) says it is deeply concerned at the use of the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to arrest and detain persons who have been involved in protests against the Government.

In a media release dated 19th August 2022 the Sri Lanka Police has stated that certain suspects are being presently detained in relation to incidents which occurred during the protests from 9th April 2022.

The BASL noted that since then Detention Orders for 90 days, have been issued, signed by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Defence detaining three protestors under Section 9 of the PTA.

“The PTA is a draconian piece of legislation, which gives wide powers to the Executive to arrest and detain persons for a lengthy period of time,” the Bar Association said in a statement today.

It said that although Detention Orders are amenable to the Fundamental Rights and Writ Jurisdictions of the apex courts, they are not subject to regular judicial supervision unlike instances of arrests and detention under the general law.

The BASL said administrative detention confers the Executive with wide powers over the freedom of physical liberty of a person and lengthy detention periods without judicial supervision go against internationally accepted standards of protections of human rights. “There is also the danger that such detention may result in the detainee being subject to torture and inhuman treatment.”

The association said that provisions of the PTA have time and again been abused as evidenced by many judgments of the apex courts in Fundamental Rights and Writ Applications and as observed by several Members of Parliament on the 22nd March 2022 during the second reading debate on the Bill seeking to amend the Prevention of Terrorism Act, as reflected in the Hansard of that date.

During the said debate the present President Ranil Wickremesinghe who was a Member of Parliament has inter alia stated referring to the PTA that “in time to come, it was abused.”

The BASL emphasized the provisions of the PTA must be resorted to only in very exceptional circumstances where there is manifest evidence indicative of a terrorist dimension that would make resort to its use justifiable. “The PTA was intended to address situations of terrorism and never to address offences which may have occurred during the expression of dissent against the Government such as protests for which there exist the ordinary law of the land including the Penal Code.”

In fact, in its response dated 15th December 2021 to the then Foreign Minister, Prof. G. L. Pieris, on a document prepared by the Foreign Ministry ‘setting out the main changes proposed in the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act’ the BASL advocated amending section 2(1) of the PTA to prevent the misuse of the PTA to arrest and detain persons who are not connected to terrorist acts.

“The BASL notes that the PTA is now being used despite assurances by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) that it was implementing a moratorium on the use of the PTA.”

During the aforesaid debate in Parliament as reflected in the Hansard on the 22nd March 2022, the then Minister of Justice M.U.M. Ali Sabry, presently the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated in Parliament as follows:

“As a result, since September 2021, there has been a de facto moratorium on the use of the PTA on offences other than those which have a direct involvement with terrorism. Therefore, these are progressive steps made in that regard.”

The BASL also noted that the use of the PTA has been seen as a matter of concern in granting to Sri Lanka an extension of the GSP+ by the European Union. The abuse of the PTA has also been raised time and again at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“In these circumstances and in the absence of a clear definition of terrorism in the PTA, there is a grave danger of it being abused to stifle legitimate expressions of dissent and to target persons who exercise their democratic rights including the freedoms of speech and expression, peaceful assembly, and association.”

The BASL therefore called upon the President and the law enforcement authorities to refrain from using the PTA in this manner and to immediately rescind the Detention Orders issued referred to above.

Disclaimer: All the comments will be moderated by the AD editorial. Abstain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or slanderous. Please avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment and avoid typing all capitalized comments. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by flagging them(mouse over a comment and click the flag icon on the right side). Do use these forums to voice your opinions and create healthy discourse.

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) in a letter to President Ranil Wickremesinghe has recommended the Government to take all necessary steps to assess the threat situation and provide the former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family with the security protection provided under the law to safely return to the country whenever he makes such a request.

HRCSL Chairperson Rohini Marasinghe and Commissioner Dr. Nimal Karunasiri informed the president that the family of Gotabaya Rajapakse, now living aboard, is entitled to the protection of the law to a safe return to the country.

The HRCSL recommends that the government provide adequate protection to the family of Gotabaya Rajapakse to return to the country.

Several complainants were received by the HRCSL alleging that Ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had tendered his resignation under threat and coercion. And the government had failed to provide adequate security to Gotabaya Rajapaksa during this period. And now, the Ex- President and his family intend to return to the country, according to the letter to President by the HRCSL.

The complaint is based on the premise that the Ex-President and family cannot return to the country due to the prevailing threats they face and that it violates fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution for every citizen.

The HRCSL has gone through the complaint. lt grossly violates the fundamental rights guaranteed to every citizen if that citizen cannot return to the country for extraneous reasons beyond his control and which are within the control of the State to eliminate.

Primarily it is inherent for all citizens to return to their country whenever such a citizen seems necessary. “Every citizen is entitled to the freedom to return to sri Lanka,, (Article 14 (1) (i) It is alleged in the complaint that Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family, who are citizens of this country, are unable to return to the country due to prevailing threats to their lives.

It unequivocally violates fundamental rights if all persons are not guaranteed equal protection under the law. “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law,,(Article tZ (1).

The complaint further alleged that the Ex-President could not return to the Country unless the Government guaranteed the security he is entitled to under the law as Ex-president of Sri Lanka.

The Commission said that it has observed that Ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is entitled to certain privileges and benefits as an Ex-President established under law.

The HRCSL said that the Law enforcement officials of Sri Lanka should assess the threat situation that would affect the violation of the fundamental Rights of Gotabaya Rajapakse and his family now living abroad to return to the country and take all reasonable and appropriate means to prevent and or remedy such infringement within the framework of the law of Sri Lanka and permit their safe return to the country.