Colombo court releases Tamil journalist

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 August 2005, 10:34 GMT]
Mr.Sarath Karunaratne, Fort Magistrate Wednesday afternoon allowed an application by the Fort Police to arrest those who had assaulted Mr.Yathurshan Premachchandran, a trainee journalist of Colombo Tamil daily Sudar Oli when he was engaged in covering the demonstration held by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Tuesday afternoon in front of the Colombo Fort Railway Station, legal sources said.
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JVP demonstrates against direct talks between GoSL and LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 August 2005, 17:18 GMT]
More than five thousand activists of the Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna held a two hour demonstration in front of the Fort Railway Station in Colombo Tuesday afternoon opposing the direct talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Mr.Tilvin Silva, General Secretary of the JVP, speaking at the conclusion of the demonstration said that the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka is at stake with the continued presence of Norwegian facilitators in the island in the name of monitoring Cease Fire Agreement signed by the then UNP government and the LTTE.
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JVP wants to instigate another war - retired SL General

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2005, 23:22 GMT]
Airing his views on the current political trends in Sri Lanka, retired Sri Lankan Military Commander for Jaffna, Major General Sarath Munasinghe, said Wednesday that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was behaving in a highly "irresponsible manner to instigate another war."
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SL parliament approves State of Emergency

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2005, 12:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka's parliament Thursday adopted a government motion to extend the State of Emergency for a month after a one-day debate with a majority of 103 votes. 124 MPs voted for the motion and 21 against. President Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge declared the State of Emergency soon after the killing of Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, and summoned the special session of the parliament to approve it on Thursday. According to the Constitution, the State of Emergency should be approved by parliament after ten days of its declaration.
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SL Parliament begins debate on ER amid chaos

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2005, 05:51 GMT]
SL Deputy Minister of Defense, Mr. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, in his opening speech in Sri Lankan Parliament on the special debate on Emergency Regulations on Thursday declared that "the alternate way" would be considered, if failing to find solution to any problem through negotiations with his government. Following his opening remarks, Mr. M.K. Eelavenathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, followed with his comments. TNA MP's speech was disturbed by Mr. Mervyn Silva, Deputy Minister, and Mr. Wimal Weeravanse, JVP's parliamentary group leader. Pandemonium prevailed for about fifteen minutes in the Lankan parliament.
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UNP, JVP react to Kadirgamar slaying

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 20:44 GMT]
In the wake of the assassination Friday of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party, whilst condemning the killing, accused the government of being lax in providing him with security, particularly amid reports he was close to the renegade LTTE commander who defected to the Army, Karuna. And in its vehement reaction, the ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) mourned Mr. Kadirgamar as one of their own and launched a bitter tirade against the LTTE.
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Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 00:29 GMT]
Mr Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka's Minister of Foreign Affairs and a close confidante of Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge, was shot Friday night by a sniper near his residence and later succumbed to his injuries. During his 1994-2001 tenure as foreign minister in People's Alliance (PA) government, he was widely credited for his relentless campaign in foreign capitals to brand the Liberation Tigers as a terrorist organization and to ban the LTTE. Mr Kadirgamar was held in high esteem by most of the South for his vehement opposition to separatism and for his passionate defense of the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Mr Kadirgamar never held an elected office.
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P-TOMS debate continues in parliament

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 August 2005, 13:32 GMT]
"We would create one hundred Pirapaharan instead of one in the North East if we allow the current political crisis situation without P-TOMS and with the stalled peace process to continue," said Mr.Maithiripala Sirisena, Minister of Irrigation and Rajarata Development participating in the P-TOMS debate, which began Thursday in parliament.
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Kantalai JVP office attacked

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 August 2005, 16:05 GMT]
An unidentified person lobbed a grenade into the office of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in Kantalai town Sunday afternoon around 1.30 p.m. A policeman providing security to the office was injured, Kantalai Police sources said.
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Night curfew imposed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 August 2005, 17:26 GMT]
A night curfew from 10 p.m. Friday till 5 a.m. Saturday has been imposed in Jaffna district, civil sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, Mr.Chandra Fernando, Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police (IGP), is to visit Jaffna Saturday following the Inuvil Thursday where a civilian was shot dead by Sri Lanka Army and a high ranking official was killed in retaliation.
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Colombo requests SC to remove P-TOMS stay order

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2005, 16:25 GMT]
Mr.M.S.Jayasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Friday filed a petition in the Supreme Court requesting for the removal of its restraining order from implementing four clauses of the P-TOMS (Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure) till its final determination on the Fundamental Rights application filed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarians. The SC made the restraining order on July 15 when the FR application came up for inquiry, the State run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) reported in its Friday night news bulletin quoting legal sources.
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Bhikku front holds convention against P-TOMS

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 July 2005, 16:44 GMT]
The National Bhikku Front (NBF), an ultra Sinhala nationalist organization of Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka, held a special National Sanga (Monks) Convention against the Post -Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) at Bandaranaiake Memorial International Center Hall (BMICH) in Colombo Thursday evening. More than five thousand nationalist monks and their supporters attended the conference that urged all Sinhala nationalist forces to join hands in one platform against the scuttled P-TOMS deal.
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JVP launches campaign against CFA in south

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 July 2005, 15:58 GMT]
More than 1500 cadres and supporters of Marxist Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) staged a protest demonstration against the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) demanding Colombo to make the CFA null and void. The main protest was held in front of the Colombo Fort Railway Station Monday evening from 4:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. Similar protests were also held in Kalutura, Puttalam, Kandy, Matala, Monaragala, Ratnapura and Anurathapura on Monday.


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P-TOMS to be debated in SL parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 July 2005, 16:58 GMT]
A debate on P-TOMS signed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is scheduled for August 11 and 12 in Sri Lanka Parliament, political sources said. The decision was taken at the party leaders meeting held Tuesday evening with the Speaker Mr.W.M.J.Lokkubandara in the chair.
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Parliament to meet Tuesday after Court ruling on P-TOMS

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 July 2005, 05:42 GMT]
The Secretary General of the parliament has summoned a meeting of leaders of political parties for Monday evening at 4 p.m., which is to be presided by the Speaker Mr.W.M.J.Lokkubandara in his chamber. The meeting has been called to finalize the business of the Parliament, which is to meet Tuesday for the first time after the Supreme Court ruling on the P-TOMS.
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Kantalai ancestral farmers face denial of water rights

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 July 2005, 13:19 GMT]
Mr.R.Sampanthan, Trincomalee district parliamentarian, has requested the Sri Lanka's Ministry of Irrigation not to divert water from Kantalai tank for irrigating fields in a newly created Sinhala settlement Jayanthipura undermining the preferential rights of ancestral (Purana) farmers of Tampalakamam and Mullipoththanai of the down stream. When the augmentation of Kantalai tank took place in 1950s to support new Sinhala settlements Government of Ceylon gave an undertaking to traditional Tamil and Muslim farmers ensuring their right to water from the tank.
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Sri Lanka's Supreme Court issues stay order against P-TOMS

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 July 2005, 06:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court (SC) Friday issued a stay order on four main points of the Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) signed between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), legal sources said. Fund management, location of Regional Committee in Kilinochchi, Project approval and implementation issues in Regional Committees are the issues being mentioned in the stay order, according to the information available at the moment. The marxist Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Buddhist Sinhala nationalist JHU filed cases seeking the Court to make P-TOMS null and void.
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SC will not unnecessarily intervene in national issues- Chief Justice

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 July 2005, 16:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court (SC) Tuesday reserved its order for Friday on the application of providing interim relief in the fundamental rights case filed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) against the Post Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS). JVP fundamental rights applications came up before the three member-bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Sarath N.Silva, Justice Raja Fernando and Justice Nimal Gamini Amarathunge on Tuesday for further inquiry, legal sources said.
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SL government destroys weapon collection

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 July 2005, 10:52 GMT]
15, 000 of about 26,000 lethal weapons collected by the Sri Lankan government since 1985 during the insurrection by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and from criminal gangs were destroyed Friday morning in the presence of Mr.Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Deputy Defence Minister, and Mr.Chandra Fernando, Inspector General of Police, sources in Colombo said. This event took place to mark the International Weapons Destruction Day
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SL Parliament approves Terrorist Financing Suppression Bill

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 July 2005, 11:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka's parliament Thursday adopted the Draft Bill to give effect to the Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Financing with a majority of sixty votes, 81 parliamentarians including ruling party, United peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), main opposition United national Party (UNP), National Unity Alliance (NUA), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the four dissidents of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) voted for the bill. 21 parliamentarians including 20 Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs and one UNP MP Mr.T.Maheswaran voted against the bill. parliamentary sources said.
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