Refusal to name war crimes probe team highlights UN hypocrisy – GL

Foreign experts’ role clarified

By Shamindra Ferdinando-July 18, 2014

External Affairs Miniter, Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday said that the government of Sri Lanka couldn’t accept a secret investigation team tasked with inquiring into alleged atrocities committed during the eelam war IV.

Prof. Peiris was responding to yesterday’s The Island exclusive headlined ‘UN sidesteps critical issues, refuses to name investigation team’ with strapline ‘OHCHR’s and Pillay’s positions contradictory.’

How could there be any faith in a mechanism when those investigated wouldn’t even know the identities of those handling the inquiry, Prof. Peiris said. OHCHR spokesperson, Rupert Colville declined to divulge the names of the members of the investigation team, though British national Sandra Beidas was named as its coordinator. Minister Peiris asserted perhaps the anonymous inquiry team was even worse than a Kangaroo court, hence GoSL decision to shun the investigation.

The External Affairs Minister pointed out the absurdity in expecting Sri Lanka to cooperate with an investigation when at least the identities of those conducting the probe weren’t known.

On June 25, UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay announced the three member expert team which would advise and support a team of 12 UNHRC investigation team.

The experts are, Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Silvia Cartwright, a former Governor-General and High Court judge of New Zealand, and Asma Jahangir, former President of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Bar Association and of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The UNHRC team consists of investigators, forensic experts, a gender specialist, a legal analyst, and other specialized staff.

Referring to a series of statements attributed to Jahangir, Prof. Peiris expressed serious concern over her motives. The minister alleged that Jahangir seems to be engaged in a campaign of her own targeting Sri Lanka. Accusing a section of the international community of undermining post-war reconciliation process here, Minister Peiris said that the global community couldn’t ignore measures taken by the government to address grievances.

Commenting on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision to broaden the scope of the mandate of the Presidential Commission to Investigate Complaints Regarding Missing Persons headed by retired High Court judge Maxwell Paranagama, Prof.  Peiris said that the appointment of an expert panel was meant to strengthen the domestic process.

The Presidential Secretariat on Thursday announced the appointment of British lawyers Desmond de Silva and Geoffrey Nice and U.S. law professor David Crane, on to the advisory panel, are all former U.N. war crimes prosecutors.

President Rajapaksa, Prof. Peiris said made the appointments subsequent to HC judge Paranagama informing him of completion of substantial amount of work and that appointment of experts could help the ongoing process.

Minister Peiris emphasized that it was wrong to interpret the newly appointed body as a foreign body as its role was to support the domestic process. "It was within the local mechanism."

The minister reiterated that the government wouldn’t subject itself for an external investigative mechanism under any circumstance.

Gota harbours Bread Talk robbers!

 Saturday, 19 July 2014 

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has ordred the suspension of investigations into the suspects, and their links, of the robbery of cash and goods worth Rs. 365,582 from Bread Talk restaurant near Eye Hospital Junction in the Maradana police area.

According to reports reaching us, this is what has happened:

Finance manager Amila Thushantha Silva on June 27 lodged a complaint with the crime investigation division of Maradana police that Bread Talka at no: 525, Union Palce, Colombo 02 had been broken into from the rear and Rs. 220,582 in cash in its safe, a laptop worth Rs. 75,000 and containing the restaurant’s menus and another laptop worth Rs. 70,000 had been stolen.

Soon after receiving the complaint, the crime division began investigations. Upon checking the CCTV cameras installed inside and outside the restaurant, it was found that two persons, with their faces fully covered and wearing caps, jackets and gloves, had arrived in the place. One of them had gone inside and had disconnected power supply to the CCTV recorder near the safe.

They had made their getaway from the same staircase which they had used to enter the restaurant. They had dropped chilli powder on the staircase and the thereabouts in order to get police dogs off their scent.

OIC of the division had then gone to the CCTV camera division on 6th floor of Colombo DIG’s office and checked the recordings, which showed that a Montero jeep had dropped the two men in question and after the robbery, they had got into the same vehicle and left.

Therefore, police were convinced more persons, other than the two men, were connected to the robbery. Since the two had knowledge about combination number and the key to the safe, police surmised that the two robbers had been, or are still, employees of the restaurant.

With the assistance of telecommunication tower signals, police further gathered that one P. Niroshan Samaratunga of Bowala, Nawathalwatte, Alawwa, who had been sacked from the restaurant, had come from Alawwa to Colombo on the day of the crime and left for Alawwa early morning on the following day.

He was arrested in Alawwa town, and upon questioning had told police that two men named Lolitha and Mahesh were also involved. Lolitha had driven the jeep and Mahesh has brought the vehicle. The trio had shared the stolen money, while one laptop is with Niroshan and the other with Lolitha, according to his confession.

This Mahesha is the driver of Achala Bogollagama, the private secretary to north western province chief minister Dayasiri Jayasekara. Also, Yatila Wijemanna, the son of Achala, had been the former managing director of Bread Talk, and after he had left the place, he had asked Mahesh to rob or do some other damage to the restaurant.

Police recovered one of the stolen laptops and several electrical appliances bought using the stolen money from the home of Niroshan. Then, police took Lolitha Waniganetti of Gemunu Place, Bloomfield Estate, Malkaduwawa, Kurunegala and found in his possession the other laptop and clothing bought using the stolen money.

Lolitha is the son of the sister of police constable Lekamlage Upul Ratnasiri Bandara, a bodyguard for Dayasiri Jayasekara. Police had then gone to arrest Malinda Mahesh Bandara, the third suspect, at the home of Achala Bogollagama, at no: 1/3, Flower Avenue, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo 07, but no one had been there at the time. Later, police visited the home of Achala’s son Yatila, at no: 1/5, Mahanuga Udyanaya, Kollupitiya, Colombo 03.

There, they had arrested Malinda Mahesh Bandara, of no: 285/5, Rammutugala, Narammala, who is the brother of Dayasiri Jayasekaras’ bodyguard Upul Ratnasiri Bandara.

Under interrogation, the suspect has revealed Yatila had been married to the owner of the restaurant, Ragwell Yaseen, and has now filed for divorce. Due to this divorce case, several employees had been sacked from the restaurant, and Yatila had told them that on the day of their dismissal, they should smash glass panes and cause damage to the place.

He has also said the Montero jeep used for the crime, owned by Achala, is parked at the lottery printing press owned by her at Battaramulla. Goods and clothes bought using the stolen money had been found from a room at Yatila’s home. Police had then gone to no: 41, Kanatta Road, Thalapathpitiya to seize the jeep, but it had not been there.

As Police had then gone to the home of Yatila to find goods bought from stolen money, Achala had telephoned the OIC of the crime division and scolded him for having taken Mahesh in handcuffs to her office and to her son’s home, and said she would be at the son’s home in a few minutes.

In the meantime, Dayasiri Jayasekara has telephoned the OIC of Maradana police and abused him in filth, warning him not to teach him about criminal law since he is a lawyer. “I will not take this lightly. I will tell the defence secretary and send all of you home.” Dayasiri has also accused police of having sided with Bread Talk for money, and reminded the OIC m that Yatila too, is a rich man.

Anyhow, the OIC has telephoned Yatila and told him to come to the police station to give a statement. Dayasiri has once again called and said he wanted to know the legal basis for the necessity to record a statement from a person not mentioned in the ‘B’ report. He has threatened the OIC, saying “You will not know what will happen to you.”

Without heeding his threats, police recorded a statement from Yatila and told his mother Achala to handover the jeep in question to police, which she has not done so far. The three arrested suspects were produced before the Maligakanda magistrate under B 28563/14 on 08 July and were remanded until July 11. Despite the availability of clear evidence of aiding and abetting a crime and the possession of stolen goods, police have failed to produce Yatila before courts due to political pressure. When the case was taken up on July 11, the three suspects had pleaded guilty and were given bail. It is to be taken up for hearing again on October 03. The defence secretary, at the request of Dayasiri Jayasekara, has instructed the IGP to withdraw the case before that date.

After this incident, the defence secretary has got Yatila appointed a director of a company owned by Dhammika Perera, the notorious casino businessman.

Keep The Public Informed Of Securities Regulations: Jayaratne

July 19, 2014 

Good governance activist Chandra Jayaratne has requested the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SECSL) to inform all stakeholders of the society concerning Securities Rules and Regulations and the effective enforcement processes applicable when dealing with Mergers and Acquisitions that give rise to the concentration of economic power and market control opportunities.

Chandra Jayaratne

Jayarathne who was also the former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, in a letter to the SECSL on Thursday (17) has pointed out that the concentration of economic and market control power in the hands of a few can result in detrimental impacts on consumer interests and business.

He has also pointed out that due to the inevitable likelihood of such concentration of economic and market control power among a handful that would lead to anticompetitive practices (arising from the need to obtain and maintain control) can negatively impact the growth and prosperity of the country in the longer term .

In his letter therefore, he has suggest the present situation deems it essential that the following steps be adopted in order to ensure effective market operation and growth.

We publish below the letter in full;

Officer-in-Charge / Deputy Director General,

Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka,

Level 28 and 29, East Tower, World Trade Centre,

Echelon Square,

Colombo 01

Dear Sir,

Securities Regulations to Control Mergers and Acquisitions    Read More 

Locals protest against rape of 11y girl by SL navy in Karainagar

19 July 2014

Locals in Karainagar protested on Friday against the rape of an 11 year old girl by Sri Lankan navy personnel in the town earlier this week. 

Marching across the town, locals held placards demanding the Sri Lankan military end their occupation of the Tamil areas. 





Politicians from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) joined locals in protest. 

The girl was admitted to Jaffna hospital on Wednesday following the attack. 

On Friday all 7 Sri Lankan navy personnel who were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack, were released by the police, citing the 11 year old's inability to identify the perpetrator in a line up. 



"How will the child identify him [the perpetrator]," TNA MP Mavai Senathirajah was reported by the Uthayan as saying when addressing protesters on Friday. 

"How will she know his name? This shouldn't continue. All the three forces should be driven out from our own lands," he added. 

Drawing attention to the wider effects of militarisation across the North-East, S. Kajendran from the TNPF, said "Sinhala Buddhist chauvinists are preying on Tamils at whim."

"Those in the North-East are affected every day [by militarisation]," he added.

11 வயது சிறுமியை வன்புணர்வுக்கு உட்படுத்திய சிப்பாய்கள் பிரத்தியேக நீதிபதி முன்னிலையில் விடுதலை:-

உலக தமிழ்ச் செய்திகள்

18 ஜூலை 2014

 காரைநகரில் 11 வயது சிறுமியை வன்புணர்வுக்கு உட்படுத்திய சந்தேகத்தில் ஆஜர் படுத்தப்பட்ட கடற்படை சிப்பாய்களை இன்று சிறுவர் நீதிமன்றம் விடுதலை செய்துள்ளது.

கடற்படை சீருடையில் அடையாள அணிவகுப்பிற்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்ட ஏழு கடற்படை சிப்பாய்களைில் சந்தேக நபரை அடையாளம் காட்ட பாதிக்கப்பட்ட சிறுமி தவறியிருந்தார்.

அதையடுத்தே கடற்படை சிப்பாய்களை விடுவிக்க சிறுவர் நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளதாக தகவல்கள் வெளியாகியுள்ளன.

கடற்படையினரால் பாடசாலை சிறுமிகள் இருவர் வன்புணர்வுக்கு உள்ளாக்கப்பட்ட சம்பவத்துடன் தொடர்புடையவர்கள் என சந்தேகித்து குறித்த கடற்படை முகாம்களைச் சேர்ந்த 7பேர் இன்று காலை ஊர்காவற்றுறை பொலிஸாரினால் சிறுவர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் ஆஜர்ப்படுத்தப்பட்டு இருந்தனர்.

குறித்த பாலியல் வன்புணர்வு குற்றச்சாட்டிற்கு உள்ளாக்கியதாக கைதான கடற்படைசிப்பாயை தடுத்து வைக்க முன்னதாக உத்தரவிட்ட நீதிபதி அடையாள அணிவகுப்பை நடத்த முடியாதென தெரிவித்திருந்தார். இதையடுத்து பதில நீதிபதி முன்னிலையில் கடற்படையினரென தெரிவித்து எழுவரை காவல்துறை முற்படுத்தி அடையாள அணிவகுப்பினை நடத்தியிருந்தமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

Gota withdraws disciplinary probe against Indran!

 Thursday, 17 July 2014

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been forced to withdraw the disciplinary inquiry he had planned to conduct against DIG in charge of Kalutara district V. Indran on a charge of neglect of duties after he had refused to release 13 suspects arrested in connection with attacking and ransacking Muslim shops in Aluthgama town on June 15, say police headquarters sources.

The IGP was to hold a disciplinary inquiry against DIG Indran, who had disregarded the order to free the 13 suspects given by defence ministry adviser Maj. Gen. Kapila Hendawitharwana and head of the State Intelligence Service, C.N. Wagista, and also described as completely against the law a request by senior DIG Gamini Nawaratne made at the insistence of Bodu Bala Sena at a meeting on June 16 in Kalutara chaired by the prime minister.

The defence secretary had ordered the IGP to conduct a preliminary investigation, and he had given an order to senior DIG in charge of the north western province Jagath Abeysiri Gunawardena to hold the inquiry.

Accordingly, DIG Gunawardena made arrangements to hold the preliminary investigation at the Police Field headquarters hall on June 30 and ordered SSP Quintus Raymond (director, environment directorate), SSP Palitha Siriwardena (in charge of Colombo Central), SP Ranaweera (director, CID), DIG Senaratne (Aluthgama, Beruwala in Kalutara), and DIG V. Indran, to be present to give evidence.

Soon after receiving the letter containing the order, DIG Indran has called the IGP and told him that he would reveal everything he knows at the inquiry and also file a human rights case in the Supreme Court.

The IGP has immediately informed the defence secretary about this. Obtaining prompt advice from the chief justice, the defence secretary was told that a case before the Supreme Court will reveal to the world about the accuracy of the exposure made by MP Mangala Samaraweera.

As such, the disciplinary inquiry against V. Indran has been suspended, and the defence secretary has ordered the IGP to take some other action against him.

From Pradeshiya Sabha to prison!

By Dharisha Bastians-July 19, 2014

Khuram Shaikh’s brother Nasser (right) with Deputy British High Commissioner Laura Davies outside the High Court

• Khuram’s murderers sentenced to 20 years in prison

• High Court convicts Tangalle PS Chairman and three others for Briton’s murder and rape of Russian girlfriend

• “Today I kept a promise to my brother”: Nasser Shaikh

• Victim’s brother, family and girlfriend in Colombo for verdict

• British High Commission welcomes verdicts; says officials of Attorney General’s Dept. had shown great professionalism and integrity

Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Sampath Vidanapathirana being escorted by policeman after the High Court verdict was delivered

Following a high profile trial in which the defence called no witnesses, the Colombo High Court yesterday sentenced a ruling party politician and three others to 20 years in prison for murdering British tourist Khuram Shaikh and raping his Russian girlfriend in 2011.
Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman and UPFA strongman Sampath Vidanapathirana and three more men were convicted of the murder of the 32-year-old British national and Red Cross worker and the sexual assault of his girlfriend Victoria Alexandrona who were holidaying in Tangalle in 2011.
Vidanapathirana was one of six suspects standing trial in court proceedings that commenced in March this year. Two of the suspects were acquitted by the High Court. The fifth and sixth accused were acquitted on the basis that prosecuting attorneys had indicated that there was no evidence against them, the judgment said.
The other four were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for their crimes. Defence lawyers were critical of the fact that the High Court Judge had only read out the convictions, sentencing and acquittals, without giving reasons for the convictions.
The trial lasted just under four months and was marked by witness testimony that went strongly against the accused in the case. The defence team for the six suspects decided to call no witnesses, but Vidanapathirana and others issued statements from the accused box, pleading their innocence. They did not subject themselves to cross examination by state prosecutors.
The judgment was delivered by High Court Judge Rohini Welgama, before a courtroom packed to capacity and overflowing with media personnel, lawyers and the victim’s family.
Shaikh’s girlfriend, Alexandrona who gave harrowing testimony at the beginning of the trial, also arrived in Colombo to hear the verdict in the case. Khuram Shaikh’s family was also present in the courtroom to hear yesterday’s judgment delivered.
The case garnered international attention, after Shaikh’s hometown MP Simon Danszuk and his brother, Nasser Shaikh led a campaign to bring his killers to justice.

“Today is a symbolic moment: a day the country delivered justice – a day I delivered my promise to a brother,” Nasser Shaikh said, after his brother’s killers were sentenced.
“Those who killed my brother have been punished and are now behind bars for a long time.  Our campaign was not only about justice, but to bring awareness of the wonderful work my brother did around the world, working in humanitarian aid,” Shaikh said in a statement yesterday.
“Today, the country has done what many people hoped and prayed for,” the victim’s brother observed.
Nasser Shaikh thanked the British Government for being “instrumental in seeking answers “for his family and Sri Lankan officials for progressing the trial towards its resolution.
“More importantly, I want to acknowledge the bravery and defiance shown by those who gave witness accounts in the case,” Khuram’s brother Nasser noted.
The British High Commission in Colombo welcomed yesterday’s verdict and sentences handed down to Shaikh’s murderers.
“We hope that this will bring some closure for his family and friends who have faced a long and difficult fight for justice,” the High Commission said in a statement released soon after the delivery of the verdict.
The UK mission said the officials of the Attorney General’s office had shown great professionalism and integrity. “We would like to thank them. We will continue to monitor any developments in the case closely,” the statement added.
The British Government applied heavy pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to act against Khuram Shaikh’s killers, especially in the lead up to the Commonwealth Summit in November last year.
Attorneys for Vidanapathirana and the other convicts pledged to appeal the ruling.

Khuram Shaikh’s Russian girl friend Victoria Alexandrona outside the High Court Pic by Shehan Gunaratne

Why would Bank of Ceylon want to open branches in Seychelles & Solomon Islands?

 Saturday, 19 July 2014 

Why would Bank of Ceylon want to open branches in Seychelles & Solomon Islands? Why does Mihin Air fly to Seychelles?

Despite their stated Vision of “Bankers to the nation” and the Mission - “Extending banking service to larger society as a beneficial beacon in the country” it’s not so difficult to understand which ‘nation’ or the ‘section’ of the Sri Lankan society Bank of Ceylon is trying to serve with their recent opening of a branch in Seychelles.

With a population of 90,024 and rated as the highest income inequality country in the world, Seychelles has less than 100 Sri Lankans living there. Seychelles is also considered as the money laundering base in Africa and a haven for dirty money! There have been several investigations on reported money laundering cases in Seychelles including by the former Ukrainian President. Anyone can verify these facts with a bit of internet research.

Bank of Ceylon is also looking at opening a branch in Solomon Islands, which has a population of 549,598 and may not have a single Sri Lankan among them. The World Bank says Solomon Islands, one of the poorest countries in the Pacific, had a GDP per capita of US$ 2,068 in 2013, compared to US$ 9,736 of Sri Lanka. It’s no mean a country to engage in any profitable banking business. However with its well established offshore financial services / tax-heaven banking systems, Solomon Islands is a popular destination for many Sri Lankan politicians!

Ask yourselves why Bank of Ceylon is opening branches in countries that have none or paltry Sri Lankan population? Wouldn’t it serve a better good if branches are opened in countries from where the bulk of Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange US$ 7 Billion per year is earned, especially in the Middle-East? It would be most appropriate now for Bank of Ceylon to add “Assisting predatory politicians to conceal their masses of illegally gotten money” to its Mission statement.

Why does Mihin Air Fly to Seychelles? The next would be that they will fly to Solomon Islands as well. Central Bank / other banks regularly repatriate foreign currency notes in bulk through air(lines) as a part of their normal business. It doesn’t have to be legitimate but with absolute power and control, so can they!

Ragunathan’s Disappearance

By Rajan Hoole -July 19, 2014 

Rajan Hoole

Political Murders, the Commissions and the Unfinished Task – 7

Our account is based on reports, which appeared in the Sinhalese weekly Yukthiya during May 1993. Further clarifications were obtained by interview. Ragunathan was staying in an apartment in Sumitrarama Road, a crowded narrow street off Gunananda Road, Kotahena. People were often out washing and bathing, so that a newcomer soon becomes well known. It also had its illicit liquor den. It was an area closely supervised by UNP godfathers. The control of the Party and supervision of the area were very much the prerogative of Minister Sirisena Cooray, Premadasa’s lieutenant and UNP general secretary. We know the traditions followed by the Kotahena police in the Ananda Sunil case. With Premadasa elevated to president, Kotahena police station became very special.

In view of this it is remarkable that it took the Police more than ten days to locate where Ragunathan resided after his picture was splashed on television. The Police after a long delay “swooped” on the area and arrested Athula the owner of the apartment, but produced neither Athula nor any of the half a dozen persons who identified Ragunathan at the magistrate’s inquest. Other remarkable things happened.

Ragunathan’s body

A journalist at the Tamil daily Veerakesari received a telephone call from the couple who had ‘decamped’ from the apartment rented from Athula. This was about three days after the assassination. They identified themselves as Ragunathan’s sister and her husband. The journalist who knew the couple put them onto a senior journalist. The couple told the senior journalist that the dead youth whose face was shown in the media was the wife’s younger brother. A particular circumstance, which they told him, was that this youth, Ragunathan, had been detained by the Kotahena Police several months earlier. The journalist cannot now recall whether it was six months or a year. The reason was evidently that he did not have a valid identity card, but carried a photograph signed by his village headman (GS) in Jaffna. The couple then had heard that Ragunathan was at Kotahena police station from someone who had gone there to give food to another detainee and happened to see him. On going to the police station – this was after he was missing for about three days – the couple was told by the Police that they did not have Ragunathan.        Read More

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 17 - Were We Caught Napping?

 by Ruwantissa Abeyratne

( July 19, 2014, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) Malaysian Airlines Flight MH 17, operated by a Boeing 777 -200ER aircraft flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on 17 July 2014, and carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew, was shot down by a BUK surface to air missile over Donest Oblast in Eastern Ukraine, while at an altitude of 10,000 meters. It is alleged that the act was carried out by pro Russian rebels, who have flatly denied responsibility. Two thirds of the passengers on board were of Dutch origin. All those on board perished.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 17 - Were We Caught Napping by Maria Anderson

Boat people will not be sent to Sri Lanka

"I am not going to let this case devolve into a procedural morass.": Justice Kenneth Hayne. Photo: John Woudstra

Sarah Whyte

A boatload of 153 asylum seekers who are being detained on the high seas would not be transferred to Sri Lanka, lawyers for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said during a directions hearing on Friday.

The asylum seekers have been detained outside Australia's migration zone since their boat was intercepted on its way from India on July 7.

Stephen Donaghue, QC, representing the government, says the Commonwealth has no plans to send the asylum seekers to Sri Lanka.

Dr Donaghue told the High Court in Melbourne on Friday that the government would stick to its undertaking that no one on the boat would be sent to another country without three days' written notice.

Justice Kenneth Hayne said that given the asylum seekers were in custody it was important that the legal battle over their future ended as quickly as possible.

''The parties are just going to have to bend their back to get on with it,'' he said.

''I am not going to let this case devolve into a procedural morass. There's got to be some sense shown.''

Justice Hayne said the case appeared to come down to whether the government had the power to intercept the asylum seekers and take them to a country other than Australia.

Hugh De Kretser, executive director of the Human Rights Law Centre, said: ''We welcome the government's confirmation that it has no plans to return the people on the boat to Sri Lanka.''

Lawyers hope the case will be heard in full by early August, saying every day the case is delayed, the longer the asylum seekers, including 37 children, are left on the high seas.

''It's extraordinary that we still don't know what the government's plans for the people are,'' Mr De Kretser said.

It has been three weeks since Fairfax Media first made contact with the boat, which was leaking oil and headed towards Christmas Island.

The High Court case will resume on Tuesday.

Israeli tanks dig in at Gaza frontier as Palestinian toll tops 300

4 OF 7. A Palestinian girl, who fled her family's house following an Israeli ground offensive, looks on as other children staying inside a classroom sleep at a United Nations-run school in Rafah in theMore...

BY NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI AND DAN WILLIAMS-GAZA/JERUSALEM Sat Jul 19, 2014

(Reuters) - Israeli tanks and bulldozers dug in across a mile-wide strip of Gaza's eastern frontier on Saturday, and Palestinian officials said military strikes had killed more than 300 people, most of them civilians.
Israeli Tanks Dig in at Gaza Frontier as Palestinian Toll Tops 300 by Maria Anderson

US urges Cambodia to release jailed opposition lawmakers

Cambodian riot police officers stand guard behind barbed wire as they block entry to Freedom Park, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday. Pic: AP.

By AP News Jul 19, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is calling for the release of Cambodian opposition officials held after a clash with security forces who prevented their followers from rallying in a public park.

The clash has heightened fears of political violence as Cambodia approaches the anniversary on July 28 of an election that the opposition says was rigged. Lawyers say at least six leading opposition members, including five lawmakers, have been charged with leading an insurrection movement.

(MORE: Cambodia locks up opposition lawmakers after protest violence)

Cambodia's opposition deputy leader Kem Sokha, center left, of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, gives a speech at a blocked main street near Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday. Pic: AP.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki condemned the violence that broke out Tuesday in a Phnom Penh park, causing injuries to security personnel and protesters.

Addressing a news briefing Friday, Psaki emphasized the importance of due process and called for the opposition officials to be released.

She also urged Cambodia to lift a ban on demonstrations.