INTERIM BUDGET Supreme Court SUSPENDS excise tax

By Stanley Samarasinghe-2015-03-26

The Supreme Court yesterday issued an interim order staying and suspending the operation of Excise Notification bearing No. 973 published in Gazette Extraordinary bearing No.1901/19 of 13/2/2015 until the final determination of four Fundamental Rights application filed by liquor and beer manufacturers.

According to the petitioners, Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake on 29 January 2015 presented a budget to...

. Parliament and in the course of the budget speech announced that it was proposed to charge a tax of Rs 200 million a month on liquor and beer manufacturers.
The petitioners further stated that No. 1901/19 of 13/2/2015 Excise Notice 973 has been published announcing that liquor and beer manufacturers to pay Rs 200 million per month.

The petitioners were Uvaglen (Pvt) Limited, Acme Lanka Distillers Pvt Ltd, Nippon Expo Pvt Ltd, SLOF Distillers and Blenders.
The Bench, after hearing the submissions of the counsellors, issued an interim order staying and suspending the operation of the excise notification. Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake, Secretary to the Finance Ministry R.H.S. Samaratunga, L.K.G.

Gunawardana, Commissioner General of Excise, D.P.M.V. Hapuarachchi, former Commissioner General of Excise, M.A. Bodaragama, Deputy Commissioner of Excise and the Attorney General had been cited as respondents.
Saliya Peiris appeared for Uvalgen Pvt Ltd instructed by Gowry S. Thavarasa. Sanjeeva Jayawardene PC, Kushan de Alwis PC and Chula Bandara appeared for the other petitioners.

Traveling To US With A ‘Young Man’ – Mangala Clarifies

March 26, 2015

MaForeign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera today rejected the news reports that had been published in some news websites, which alleged he had spent time with a young man at a luxurious New York hotel during his recent trip to the US.

Mangala Samaraweera -Minister of External Affairs

Responding to an inquiry made by the Colombo Telegraph, the Minister’s office has sent the following statement, concerning the reports in news sites that claim the ‘young man’ with whom he is having a relationship is his Public Relations Officer, Sameera Manahara.

Following is his statement on the matter:

“The forces of darkness, thought to have been defeated along with the Rajapaksa regime on the 8th of January, are beginning to raise their ugly heads again. A smear campaign against selected members of the Sirisena administration has started, and yet again I too have become a victim of such slander.

Therefore, I place the following facts regarding my recent visit to the United States on the public record.

1. I visited the United States of America for an official visit between the 10^th and 13^th of February. This visit was part of the new government’s strategy to win many of Sri Lanka’s friends in the international community who had been alienated as a result of the Rajapaksa regime’s disastrous foreign policy.

Hotell bill

2. After meeting Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior U.S. officials of the Obama administration during a two and a half day whirlwind visit to Washington D.C., I arrived in New York by train on the early afternoon of the 13^th. I had talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, that afternoon.

3. I also met the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, before departing from the hotel at around 6.30 pm to fly to New Delhi for the state visit of President Sirisena to India.

4. All hotels used during my official visits are booked by the relevant missions. And I have mentioned to the relevant officials not to book ostentatious and extravagant hotels like the Waldorf-Astoria in New York and the Dorchester in London where members of the Rajapaksa regime resided during their travels.

5. Having known the schedule in advance it is also a mystery why two nights were booked by the Sri Lankan mission in New York.

6. On my official trips abroad I take one member of my personal staff from the Minister’s Bureau. They travel economy class unless upgraded complementarily by the airline. During this visit the Public Relations Officer, Sameera Manahara, travelled with me .

7. Manahara was also my Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Ports and Aviation between 2004 and 2007. During my seven years in the Opposition he was one of my principal coordinators and campaign managers.

8. Manahara is the happily married father of a beautiful baby girl.

‘MR’s life in danger; his security mustn’t be compromised’ 

March 25, 2015, 10:05 pm 

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been given only six vehicles though there are serious threats to his life, his office has said, calling upon the government not to compromise his security.

Government Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told the media on Tuesday that Rajapaksa had been given 23 vehicles.

The former President’s office yesterday alleged that though 108 soldiers and 105 policemen had been assigned for Rajapaksa’s security, they hadn’t been provided with enough vehicles. In fact, all vehicles assigned for the security contingent had been withdrawn on a directive given by Secretary to the President P. B. Abeykoon, it said.

The government hadn’t responded so far to a letter dated March 16 sent by the former presidential secretary Lalith Weeratunga, requesting an adequate number of vehicles for the security contingent’s use, Rajapaksa’s office said, stressing that he had given political leadership to the country’s war against terrorism and therefore there were threats to his life.

Elmo Rodrigopulle bungles Lake House and goes foreign trips

Wednesday, 25 March 2015 

It is reported the 75 years old sports reporter Elmo Rodrigopulle has lapsed the Lake House institution and indulge in foreign trips.

The latter have travelled to Australia and New Zealand informing he is going to cover the current World Cup cricket has only covered three matches up to now. Despite the Sri Lankan team has played seven
matches it appears the latter has not covered at least half of it. He has deceived the sponsors and taken a sum of Rs. 1.5 million for this trip stating there are matches played in two countries. Therefore it is worthwhile to inquire about this discrepancy.

It is learnt that at least Rs. 1.5 million is necessary for the expenditure to cover these matches held in two countries to travel to different cities, spend for food and accommodation but it is a known fact among journalists who travels abroad that Elmo Rodrigopulle is not a person who stays in hotels. The accommodations, food and
travelling expenses too are borne by his friends and relatives. From the date the World Cup started on February 14th up to now 39 days has passed he has officially attended to work only for three days. Therefore it is clear for what he requires a sum of Rs. 1.5 million. It is learnt that this is only a profit making trip gone to Australia
and New Zealand.

Although other sports journalists cover the practice sessions, interviews and cautious about matches and sports news beside covering only the matches it is controversial that this Elmo Rodrigopulle cover matches relaxing at home sipping a beer in front of the television dropping important news concerned of the Sri Lankan cricketers
injuries and sports substitutes.

This is not the first instance of his loose behavior, but a continuous practice of his job. Once when a sports journalist was staying at a friend’s house the latter has said he wants to go to cover the match. Then his friend has told him “why the hell you are going, just sip a beer and cover the match in the TV, Elmo also does this when he comes here”

He uses the Daily News to publish pages of news about his friends and relatives who provide him with accommodation. It was a practice during this trip as well. It is a joke he uses the national newspaper to
write about how he is treated and the delicious food he gourmandized.

Elmo is a prominent journalist who covered the first test cricket match and it is obvious that he never allows others journalists to go overseas to cover matches. It was famous news that he and the Daily News sports journalist Dinesh weerawansa jointly chased the prominent sports journalist Saadi Thowfeek and Chris Dabare out of Lake House due the deterrence of them for his travelling overseas to cover matches.

However Elmo mostly likes to travel to countries like England, Australia, New Zealand and Sounth Afrika. He shows least interest to travel to India and Bangladesh. The interest he shows in matches held overseas is more than the international matches held in the country. Journalists farce amusing that Elmo has not watched an inter club matches at least for the last 20 years and he never knows a cricketer is fair or dark before he joins the national team.

Lethargic Elmo who is enthusiastic to go on foreign trips once during the 500 wicket record of Muththiah Muralidaran demanded that it is important for a prominent journalist to go to Australia to cover the
match. However Muralidaran failed to achieve the record in Australia but achieved the 500 wicket target in Asgiriya but unfortunately Elmo was not present in Asgiriya to cover the match.

Suspected attacker of President’s brother surrenders

March 26, 2015

The suspect who was wanted in connection with the attack on President Maithripala Sirisena’s brother Priyantha earlier today has been arrested.

Police spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara  said that the suspect, Lakmal, was taken into custody after he surrendered to Bakamuna Police.

The suspect is reportedly a close friend of the victim.

Priyantha Sirisena who was admitted to the Polonnaruwa Hospital following the alleged attack was airlifted to the Colombo National Hospital a short while ago.

He was rushed to the Polonnaruwa Hospital and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after being seriously injured in an axe attack.

However, he was later transferred to the Colombo National Hospital. 

Priyantha, who is also known as “Weli Raju,” is a businessman engaged in sand mining. 

He is a younger brother of President Sirisena, who is currently on a four-day state visit to China.  

Israel votes for permanent occupation and apartheid – it must face international isolation

 March 19, 2015

The far-right in Israel may have given prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu his election victory after he officially promised not to recognize any Palestinian state and his racist remarks on Palestinian citizens, but the victory margin of Likud and other extremist Zionist parties that deny basic Palestinian rights are further evidence of a decisive shift among Jewish-Israelis to the far-right camp, dropping any pretense of seeking a just peace, leading Palestinian civil society activists said today.

Israel’s final ditching of the so-called “peace process” sham should deny world governments any excuse for not imposing sanctions against Israel, starting with a long overdue military embargo.

The convincing victory of the so-called “national camp,” a coalition of settler movements, Likud and their fanatic right partners, is seen by most Palestinians as a strong vote for perpetual Israeli occupation, colonization and apartheid. It is also an opportunity to further isolate Israel, mainly through the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as well as prosecution of Israeli war criminal at the International Criminal Court.

Mahmoud Nawajaa from the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the broad coalition of Palestinian civil society organisations that leads the global BDS movement, said:

“The true face of the Israeli establishment has been revealed to the world. By rejecting Palestinian statehood and declaring he will not enter into any meaningful negotiations with Palestinians, Netanyahu has removed any excuse for governments not to impose sanctions on Israel and end their support for its colonial and apartheid regime.”

“This is a victory of apartheid and colonialism that should be met with sanctions against Israel by world governments and the UN.”

“European and other governments have consistently excused their lack of meaningful action to hold Israel to account by saying they did not want to damage prospects for a ‘two-state’ solution. How can governments defend their inaction now that Netanyahu has effectively buried the two-state solution?”

Nawajaa said that Netanyahu’s use of racism and incitement in the closing stages of the election campaign unmasked the Israeli establishment:

“Netanyahu race baiting and fear mongering among Jewish Israelis have revealed how deeply seated and prevalent racism has become in Israel. More than any previous Israeli leader, Netanyahu has clearly shown that he only represents Jewish Israelis, considering the indigenous Palestinian citizens an enemy that must be feared, hated and combated.”

“Today, we call once more on supporters of freedom and justice across the world to join us in intensifying our efforts to boycott Israel and to push governments to impose sanctions against Israeli apartheid, just as South African apartheid was isolated.”

Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian human rights activist and a co-founder of the BDS movement, added:

“Israel, a belligerent nuclear power that completely disregards international law and basic human rights, will soon have its most fanatical government ever, with grave consequences for Palestinians as well as for world peace. Israel has dropped the mask.”

“The UN and world governments must take part of the blame for this victory by the far right. They have failed to hold Israel accountable to international law by imposing sanctions on it as was done against apartheid South Africa. They rejected pressure from world public opinion to stop Israel’s latest massacre in the besieged Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014 and its ongoing feverish colonization of the West Bank, especially in and around East Jerusalem and in the Jordan Valley. They were apathetic when Israel adopted even more extreme, racist laws that have further entrenched its regime of legalized and institutionalized racism which meets the UN definition of apartheid.”

“The biggest losers in the Israeli election are the Israeli right parties that wear left masks, like Labor and Tzipi Livni’s party. Both are guilty of cementing the occupation, the settlements and the apartheid regime, and both are guilty of grave war crimes against the Palestinian people. While rejecting the basic right to equality for Palestinians, both have managed to maintain a false façade of ‘moderateness’ and even ‘left’ tendencies. The mask has fallen. There is a Zionist consensus, with no exceptions, against equality for Palestinians in Israel, against the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their lands and homes from which they were ethnically cleansed, and against a real end to Israel’s unique system of occupation, colonization and apartheid.”

Saudi Arabia launches Yemen air strikes as alliance builds against Houthi rebels

White House confirms support for military effort, claiming international mandate to end ‘widespread instability and chaos’ that drove Yemeni president into exile

The US has confirmed its support for an extraordinary international military alliance that is emerging to counter Houthi rebel advances in Yemen.

Dan Roberts in Washington,Kareem Shaheen in Beirut and agencies

Thursday 26 March 2015

As Saudi Arabia began pounding the rebels with airstrikes, countries from the Middle East to Pakistan were said to be prepared to commit troops for a ground assault.

Saudi Arabia Launches Yemen Air Strikes as Alliance Builds Against Houthi Rebels by Thavam Ratna

Oil prices surge after Saudi air strikes in Yemen

Southern People's Resistance militants loyal to Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi move a tank from the al-Anad air base in the country's southern province of Lahej March 24, 2015. 

BY HIMANSHU OJHA-Thu Mar 26, 2015

(Reuters) - Brent crude surged on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies began air strikes in Yemen, but oil pared earlier gains of nearly 6 percent to trade back below $58 a barrel.

The military operation against Houthi rebels, who have driven the president from Yemen's capital Sanaa, could stoke concerns about the security of Middle East oil shipments if the conflict widens.

The strikes have not disrupted major oil facilities of key Gulf producers, such as Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, but there are concerns the conflict might spread. Yemen's small-scale oil output has been disrupted for months.

Brent futures were up $1.20 at $57.68 by 1316 GMT, off an earlier high of $59.78. U.S. crude was up $1.07 at $50.28 a barrel, after reaching $52.48 earlier in the session when both contracts gained around 6 percent.

"I think that the surge we've seen in prices over the last 24 hours or so has been a bit of an overreaction," Jordan Perry, senior analyst at risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, told the Reuters Global Oil Forum.

Riyadh's rival Iran denounced the assault on the Houthi militia group, which it backs, demanding an immediate halt to Saudi-led military operations in Yemen, Iranian news agencies reported. A senior Iranian official ruled out military intervention.

Kuwait, a member of OPEC that supported the strikes, said it had raised security around its oil facilities after the military operation in Yemen.

While Yemen is only a small producer, Arab producers have to ship oil past its coastline via the Gulf of Aden to get to the Suez Canal, a key passageway to Europe.

The waters between Yemen and Djibouti, known as Bab el-Mandeb, are less than 40 km (25 miles) wide. They are considered a "chokepoint" to global oil supplies by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), which estimated 3.8 million barrels a day passed through Bab el-Mandeb in 2013.

Four Egyptian naval vessels have passed through the Suez Canal en route to Yemen to secure sea lanes, maritime sources said.

Oil prices fell back after the dollar strengthened in the wake of strong employment data, having earlier hit its weakest level against the euro in three weeks. Dollar-priced commodities tend to move inversely against the U.S. currency.

(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick and Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo, Meeyoung Cho in Seoul, Henning Gloystein and Florence Tan in Singapore; editing by Dale Hudson and Jason Neely)

Germanwings crash: co-pilot 'wanted to destroy the plane'

Andreas Lubitz took sole control of the Airbus 320 and "wanted to destroy the plane", French prosecutors say.

THURSDAY 26 MARCH 2015

Brice Robin said the 28-year-old co-pilot - named Andreas Lubitz - was alone at the controls of the flight that slammed into an Alpine mountainside and "intentionally" sent the plane into the doomed descent.

The Airbus 320 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf hit a mountain at 700 km/h on Tuesday after a rapid eight-minute descent he added. Mr Robin said passengers on the flight could be heard screaming just before the crash as the main pilot tried to re-open the door from the outside.

Death was instant. However Mr Robin was careful to state that at this stage there was no indication of a "terrorist attack".

'Black box revelations'

The information was pulled from the black box cockpit voice recorder. During the final minutes of the flight's descent, pounding could be heard on the door as alarms sounded, he said.

He said the co-pilot "voluntarily" refused to open the door, and his breathing was normal throughout the final minutes of the flight.

All the families have been informed of the details.

Lufthansa said the co-pilot - who had not yet been officially named - joined Germanwings in September 2013, directly after training, and had flown 630 hours. The captain had more than 6,000 hours of flying time and been a Germanwings pilot since May 2014.

In a press conference Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr described the event as "the most terrible in our company's history". "In a company like ours where we are so proud of our safety criteria this is even more of a shock for us," he said.

Meanwhile, Germanwings has responded on Twitter to the comments from the French prosecutor:

Germanwings        ✔ @germanwings

Follow

We are shaken by the upsetting statements of the French authorities. 1/3

9:09 AM - 26 Mar 2015

Germanwings        ✔ @germanwings

Follow

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families and friends of the victims. 2/3

9:09 AM - 26 Mar 2015

Germanwings        ✔ @germanwings

Follow

The next press conference will take place this afternoon at 2.30 pm (German time). 3/3

9:10 AM - 26 Mar 2015

'He was happy and doing well'

Lubitz was from Montabaur, a town in the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate. The city's mayor Gabriele Wieland said Lubitz lived with his parents in Montabaur and also had a residence in Dusseldorf, where the Germanwings flight was heading before it crashed.

Those who knew him said he showed no signs of depression when he was seen last year renewed his glider pilot's license. His Facebook profile has been taken down - but had included music and aviation as his hobbies.

"He was happy he had the job with Germanwings and he was doing well," Peter Ruecker, who watched him learn to fly at the same glider club in which he trained, told Associated Press. "He gave off a good feeling." He described Lubitz as a "rather quiet" but friendly young man.

German security officials said Lubitz had "no indications of any kind of terrorist background". Lufthansa told them that regular security checks also turned up nothing untoward on him.

'The world responds'

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says he was "shocked by the latest details provided by investigators". Rajoy said that once again he sends "an emotional embrace to the families" of those who died in Tuesday's crash in France.

Should Putin Let the Ruble Bottom Out?

The Russian president is just the latest in a long line of national leaders with a sentimental, ill-fated attachment to propping up their countries’ currencies.

BY DEBORA L. SPAR-MARCH 25, 2015

One can almost excuse Vladimir Putin for trying so hard. This is a man, after all, who famously built his public image in part on feats of derring-do: riding shirtless across Siberia, hang-gliding with migrating birds, and releasing a caged leopard into a natural reserve. So perhaps it isn’t surprising that the Russian president would leap with similar brashness into his country’s economic crisis, precipitated by tumbling global oil prices and Western sanctions. Why not use sheer financial force to wrestle the depreciating ruble back to safety?

At 1 a.m. Moscow time on Dec. 16, Russia’s central bank announced a massive hike in the country’s interest rate, from 10.5 to 17 percent. Early indicators of the government’s move were mildly positive, with the ruble opening the next morning up 
10 percent against the dollar. Within hours, though, the weight of the foreign exchange market reasserted itself, hammering the ruble to less than half its starting value in 2014 and raising the dual specters of inflation and recession. Over the following weeks, Putin and his lieutenants proved almost wholly incapable of controlling the two economic forces that mattered most to them: As of mid-
January, spot prices for Brent European crude oil hovered near the historically low level of $46 a barrel, and the ruble was stubbornly slumped at 65 to the dollar.

It’s clear why falling oil prices and a declining ruble would strike fear into even the leopard-friendly Putin. The Russian economy remains overwhelmingly dependent on oil and natural gas, which in 2013 accounted for 68 percent of the country’s export revenues and 50 percent of its federal budget. Diminishing global energy prices could lead to a 
4.5 percent GDP contraction in 2015, according to the country’s central bank. A declining ruble would similarly wallop the country’s holders of hard-currency debt,$130 billion of which come due this year.

What’s not clear is how Putin and his colleagues could realistically have expected to achieve anything by hiking the interest rate. Unless the increase was intended to attract foreign capital — a very unlikely event — it could only have led to higher inflation and greater downward pressure on the ruble. The country’s international debt was destined to become harder to service; the prices of imported goods were likely to rise; and Russian holders of foreign debt were going to face difficulties in accessing foreign currencies.

Yet Putin is hardly the first national leader to chase a stronger currency at the risk of a weaker economy. In the 1920s, Winston Churchill drew down his country’s reserve holdings to bolster the British pound, long after the nexus of global financial power had shifted from Britain to the United States. The result was a marked decline in British industrial competitiveness and a sagging economy that contributed to the unfurling of the Great Depression. Half a century later, U.S. President Richard Nixon struggled to maintain the dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency despite the growing financial cost to the United States of doing so. And Mexican President José López Portillo pledged to “defend the peso like a dog” shortly before being forced by his country’s collapsing economy to let the currency float, and plunge. In all these cases and many others like them (Russia in 1998, Indonesia in 1997, the United Kingdom in 1992), intervention led solely and inevitably to malaise: higher inflation rates, slower growth, rising unemployment, and capital flight.

Why such a long line of clearly ill-fated policies? Probably because, like many of their citizens, national leaders often seem to feel a physical, sentimental attachment to their currencies. It’s an odd vestige, arguably, in a world marked by increasing cross-border flows of foreign exchange, but a powerful one nonetheless. In theory, the value of any currency is an impersonal, apolitical fact — the result of supply and demand in the open marketplace. In practice, though, leaders often associate strong currencies with national strength more generally and thus view declining currencies (and particularly rapidly declining ones) as insults to their prowess.

As a result, in the optics of intervention, a national leader is seeking to convey a certain element of power-broking — to display muscle and an implicit promise that the state is not being abandoned to ruinous outside forces. Think again of Churchill, who in 1925 risked Britain’s gold to prop up the beloved pound. The economic wisdom was clear: Intervention would not work. That same year, economist John Maynard Keynes had warned that returning Britain to the gold standard at an artificially inflated rate would lead inevitably to unemployment, class conflict, and prolonged strikes. Yet Churchill proceeded, unwilling to let the pound fall below what he considered its rightful level.

For Putin, too, sitting by as the ruble declined was probably never an option — and still isn’t. He likely will keep indulging in efforts to pump up the ruble and draw down Russia’s hard-currency reserves accordingly. (In a surprise move, the central bank cut interest rates in late January — but only by 2 percentage points.) Because neither of these measures will do anything to redress the country’s underlying economic woes, however, Russia will probably be consigned to muddling through until global oil prices eventually rise again.

What Russia should do is diversify its economy away from anything that involves extracting resources out of the ground and selling them at volatile, internationally set prices. The country should follow the Norwegian exampleof isolating energy revenues in a sovereign wealth fund, investing the proceeds for the long term, and insulating its broader economy from dependence on commodity markets. It should consider strategies like those employed in Chile, where copper revenues are carefully invested in a broader range of industries and where export earnings during booms are reliably saved for less felicitous days.

Until that happens, Russia and its chest-thumping leader will be caught in a cage of their own making, acting symbolically but without any real effect. And the country will remain on the long list of states making policies based on nostalgia rather than sense.

Two arrested in West Bengal nun rape case

While the accused arrested from Mumbai admitted his presence at the convent, the other accused, who was arrested in North 24-Parganas, is charged with giving shelter to robbers.

Mohammed Salim, one of the accused in the rape of a nun, is brought to the Ranaghat court, in Nadia, West Bengal, on Thursday.

March 26, 2015

The Criminal Investigation Department of the West Bengal Police on Thursday arrested two accused in connection with the robbery and rape of an elderly nun at a convent in Ranaghat in State’s Nadia district on March 14, 2015.

While the accused arrested from Mumbai Mohammed Salim Sheik has admitted his presence at the Convent of Jesus and Mary High School the other accused Gopal Sarkar was arrested from Habra in State’s North 24-Parganas is charged with giving shelter to the robbers.

Both the accused are from Bangladesh, senior CID officials said.

“Acting on information a team of two members of CID led by a DSP, with the help of Mumbai Crime Branch, held raid at Mumbai and secured arrest of Mohammad Salim Sheikh about 40 years of age from second

Pilkhand Street Mahila Milan Jhoprpaatti under police station Nagpara, Mumbai. He is being produced at ACJM court, Ranaghat,” DIG, CID Dilip Kumar Adak told journalists.

The accused arrested from Mumbai was remanded to 14 days of CID custody by the ourt of ACJM Ranaghat.

Mr. Adak, however refused to divulge what was the motive of the crime and whether Mr Sheikh is the mastermind in the case. Though the State government had recommended a probe by the CBI, the CID of the West Bengal police was still continuing with the investigation in the case.

The arrest comes 11 days after the crime which had created an outrage across the country.

Maldives ex-president will not appeal 13-year jail sentence

Mohamed Nasheed. Pic: AP.

By AP News Mar 25, 2015 

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A lawyer says Maldives’ jailed ex-president will not appeal his 13-year sentence because the court has not released all documents from the first hearing to prepare a case.

Hassan Latheef said on Wednesday the deadline to appeal the sentence against former President Mohamed Nasheed expires Sunday.

Nasheed was sentenced to prison earlier this month for ordering the arrest of a senior judge when he was in office three years ago. The court said that the arrest was akin to abduction under the country’s terrorism law.

The trial drew wide local and international criticism.

Nasheed became the Indian Ocean archipelago state’s first democratically elected president in 2008 but resigned in 2012 amid public anger over the arrest of the judge.