Fiddling whilst the Swissie churns

Fiddling whilst the Swissie churns

Monday 19 Jan 2015

So what do they know? They spend their lives dealing, trading, monitoring and watching. Yet last week, when the Swiss Central Bank detached the Swissie (the Swiss Franc) from tracking the Euro, in the immortal words of my namesake, they knew nothing.

Snowblog

This despite the fact that one of the most widely followed financial operatives, the Singaporean trader Jim Rogers, had talked openly of the unease of the Swiss banks about continuing to track the Euro now that the European Central Bank is openly considering a spate of quantitative easing.

So caught on the hop were some of the Foreign Exchange dealers not clear what the evidence is for that statement? More accurate to say – that many lost significant sums of money. Citi Bank lost $150m, less than $1oom and the sponsors of West Ham football Club, Alpari UK, said last week it had entered insolvency but is now considering all options including a sale.

Strangely the ‘masters of the universe’ then appear to have sat on their hands in shock. Several dealers have told me that they did not immediately understand the inevitable impact on stocks – particularly those in which the Swissie was in play. The plunge in the FT 100 Index was slow. Only later in the day did many dealers get round to selling exposed assets.

It all recalls the ignorance and incompetence, underlying the corruption and theft that swirled around the global foreign exchange scandal for which banks and finance house are still settling their fines. Despite a number of arrests no one has yet gone to jail for fiddling the foreign exchange market.

For all the City whining about tightened controls, tougher regulation, and better behaviour on the dealing floors, the ignorance exposed by the handling of the ‘decoupled’ Swissie reveals that very little has changed since the most public display of financial irresponsibility and incompetence in 2008.

We keep being told that a lot has been fixed since the Banking Crisis. Equally we are told it could happen again. The world clearly needs a foreign exchange system that is fool proof and fiddle proof.

International trade depends on a reliable FX system. Do we have it? Who knows. But I suspect not. Then again. In this regard, I know nothing.

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China protests over Japan's comments on border dispute with India

Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (L) shakes hands with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj before their meeting in New Delhi January 17, 2015.

BEIJING Mon Jan 19, 2015 

(Reuters) - China on Monday lodged a protest with Tokyo after Japanese media quoted Japan's foreign minister as saying that a disputed border region between China and India belonged to India, in the latest source of friction between the two Asian rivals.

Japan's foreign ministry played down the issue, saying it could not confirm Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida's reported remarks. It added that it hoped India and China could resolve their dispute peacefully.

Tensions between China and Japan have risen in recent years, fuelled by a row over a chain of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. Their relations have long been poisoned by what China sees as Japan's failure to atone for its occupation of parts of China before and during World War Two.

Japan's Sankei Shimbun, a conservative daily, quoted Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida as saying in New Delhi on Saturday that Arunachal Pradesh that lies on the contested border was "India's territory".

China disputes the entire territory of Arunachal Pradesh, calling it south Tibet, especially Tawang, a key site for Tibetan Buddhism. The historic town briefly fell into Chinese hands during their 1962 war before Beijing retreated.

Kishida's reported remarks drew an angry response from China, which called on Tokyo to "understand the sensitivity of the Sino-India boundary issue".

"(We) have lodged solemn representations with Japan and have asked Japan to make clarifications and immediately eliminate the negative effects that have resulted from this," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily news briefing.

Hong said that Japan has told China "it will not intervene" in the border dispute.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said "the statement was made considering the reality that Arunachal Pradesh state is basically in reality controlled by India and that China and India are continuing negotiations over the border dispute".

"Japan hopes that the dispute will be peacefully resolved by negotiations between the two countries," he said, adding he could not confirm Kishida's remarks which were made during a Q&A session.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee in BEIJING and Antoni Slodlowski in TOKYO; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Chinese Websites Deleted One Billion Posts in 2014, State Media Says

The country’s campaign against what it calls ‘harmful’ content is gathering steam.

BY DAVID WERTIME-JANUARY 17, 2015

The final statistics from a 2014 Chinese Internet crackdown are in, and they are staggering. On Jan. 17, Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, announced that Chinese websites had deleted one billion posts in 2014 as part of a government-led operation to jing wang, meaning to “cleanse the web.” According to Xinhua, of one billion “erotic and disturbing” posts deleted, 220 million had been hosted by one of four Chinese service providers: Sina, Sohu, Tencent, and Netease. An additional 130 million were deleted by China-based search giants Baidu and Qihoo, the article said.

The “cleanse the web” campaign encapsulates a series of government-led efforts to remove content it considers undesirable.  In February 2014, Chinese propaganda authorities ordered investigation into what it labeled “pornographic and vulgar” content; then in April 2014, Chinese authoritiesannounced a campaign called “sweep out porn, strike at rumors.” Critics have complained that these efforts are ultimately aimed at curbing speech contrary to the Communist Party line, rather than protecting web users. Although such campaigns occur at the behest of party authorities, they generally rely on service providers to implement them in-house, granting them leeway to choose the particular technical methods to achieve government censorship directives. Service providers that appear recalcitrant can be punished; in April 2014, the government suspended Sina’s online publication and distribution licenses for lewd content on Weibo, the massive microblogging operation Sina runs. In this latest campaign, Xinhua paraphrased a government official saying that domestic internet companies had “well cooperated.”

Although Chinese state media depicted the removal of one billion posts as a success, that number is a drop in the proverbial ocean of Internet chatter. For example, in the first minute of 2014 alone, Weibo users made over 800,000 posts, according to company data. And the cleansing campaign is itself but one of many efforts at the government and the company levels to manage what Chinese web users see. One study estimates that of all posts in Chinese cyberspace, fully 13 percent are censored; another puts the number at 16 percent. If those numbers are broadly correct, then the quantum of vanished posts dwarfs one billion per year.

Whatever its ultimate motive or impact, this particular operation now shows signs of accelerating. Xinhua noted that province-level cyberspace authorities had “summoned the operators of about 50 million websites, pressing them to step up internal management.”

This article has been updated. 

GCHQ captured emails of journalists from top international media

• Snowden files reveal emails of BBC, NY Times and more
• Agency includes investigative journalists on ‘threat’ list
• Editors call on Cameron to act against snooping on media

The journalists’ communications were among 70,000 emails harvested in less than 10 minutes on one day in November 2008 by GCHQ. Photograph: GCHQ/EPA

 Monday 19 January 2015

GCHQ’s bulk surveillance of electronic communications has scooped up emails to and from journalists working for some of the US and UK’s largest media organisations, analysis of documents released by whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals.

Emails from the BBC, Reuters, the Guardian, the New York Times, Le Monde, the Sun, NBC and the Washington Post were saved by GCHQ and shared on the agency’s intranet as part of a test exercise by the signals intelligence agency.

The disclosure comes as the British government faces intense pressure to protect the confidential communications of reporters, MPs and lawyers from snooping.

The journalists’ communications were among 70,000 emails harvested in the space of less than 10 minutes on one day in November 2008 by one of GCHQ’s numerous taps on the fibre-optic cables that make up the backbone of the internet.

The communications, which were sometimes simple mass-PR emails sent to dozens of journalists but also included correspondence between reporters and editors discussing stories, were retained by GCHQ and were available to all cleared staff on the agency intranet. There is nothing to indicate whether or not the journalists were intentionally targeted.

The mails appeared to have been captured and stored as the output of a then-new tool being used to strip irrelevant data out of the agency’s tapping process.

New evidence from other UK intelligence documents revealed by Snowden also shows that a GCHQ information security assessment listed “investigative journalists” as a threat in a hierarchy alongside terrorists or hackers.

Senior editors and lawyers in the UK have called for the urgent introduction of a freedom of expression law amid growing concern over safeguards proposed by ministers to meet concerns over the police use of surveillance powers linked to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa).

More than 100 editors, including those from all the national newspapers,have signed a letter, coordinated by the Society of Editors and Press Gazette, to the UK prime minister, David Cameron, protesting at snooping on journalists’ communications.

In the wake of terror attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices and a Jewish grocer in Paris, Cameron has renewed calls for further bulk-surveillance powers, such as those which netted these journalistic communications.

Ripa has been used to access journalists’ communications without a warrrant, with recent cases including police accessing the phone records of Tom Newton-Dunn, the Sun’s political editor, over the Plebgate investigation. The call records of Mail on Sunday reporters involved in the paper’s coverage of Chris Huhne’s speeding row were also accessed in this fashion.

Under Ripa, neither the police nor the security services need to seek the permission of a judge to investigate any UK national’s phone records – instead, they must obtain permission from an appointed staff member from the same organisation, not involved in their investigation.

However, there are some suggestions in the documents that the collection of billing data by GCHQ under Ripa goes wider – and that it may not be confined to specific target individuals.

A top secret document discussing Ripa initially explains the fact that billing records captured under Ripa are available to any government agency is “unclassified” provided that there is “no mention of bulk”.

The GCHQ document goes on to warn that the fact that billing records “kept under Ripa are not limited to warranted targets” must be kept as one of the agency’s most tightly guarded secrets, at a classification known as “Top secret strap 2”.

That is two levels higher than a normal top secret classification – as it refers to “HMG [Her Majesty’s government] relationships with industry that have areas of extreme sensitivity”.

Internal security advice shared among the intelligence agencies was often as preoccupied with the activities of journalists as with more conventional threats such as foreign intelligence, hackers or criminals.

One restricted document intended for those in army intelligence warned that “journalists and reporters representing all types of news media represent a potential threat to security”.

It continued: “Of specific concern are ‘investigative journalists’ who specialise in defence-related exposés either for profit or what they deem to be of the public interest.

“All classes of journalists and reporters may try either a formal approach or an informal approach, possibly with off-duty personnel, in their attempts to gain official information to which they are not entitled.”

It goes on to caution “such approaches pose a real threat”, and tells staff they must be “immediately reported” to the chain-of-command.

GCHQ information security assessments, meanwhile, routinely list journalists between “terrorism” and “hackers” as “influencing threat sources”, with one matrix scoring journalists as having a “capability” score of two out of five, and a “priority” of three out of five, scoring an overall “low” information security risk.

Terrorists, listed immediately above investigative journalists on the document, were given a much higher “capability” score of four out of five, but a lower “priority” of two. The matrix concluded terrorists were therefore a “moderate” information security risk.

A spokesman for GCHQ said: “It is longstanding policy that we do not comment on intelligence matters. Furthermore, all of GCHQ’s work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework, which ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the secretary of state, the interception and intelligence services commissioners and the parliamentary intelligence and security committee.

“All our operational processes rigorously support this position. In addition, the UK’s interception regime is entirely compatible with the European convention on human rights.”

U.S.-built Ebola treatment centers in Liberia are nearly empty as outbreak fades

Workers at an Ebola treatment center relax Jan. 10, 2015 in Tubmanburg, Liberia. The facility was built by the U.S. military. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post)

By Kevin Sieff January 18 at 7:09 PM

TUBMANBURG, Liberia — Near the hillside shelter where dozens of men and women died of Ebola, a row of green U.S. military tents sit atop a vast expanse of imported gravel. The generators hum; chlorinated water churns in brand-new containers; surveillance cameras send a live feed to a large-screen television.
U.S.-built Ebola Treatment Centers in Liberia Are Nearly Empty as Outbreak Fades by Thavam Ratna

The Legal Case of the Tamil Genocide

January 6, 2015 by UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic Leave a Comment

By UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic

The UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic, an impact litigation clinic of American University Washington College of Law, has advocated and litigated on behalf of victims of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka for nearly five years. On September 22, 2010, UNROW released a new report calling for the establishment of a new international tribunal to prosecute those most responsible for the crimes committed during the conflict. In December 2010, UNROW submitted evidence of human rights violations committed during the armed conflict to the United Nations Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka, which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appointed in 2010. In September 2011, UNROW filed a lawsuit, Devi v. Silva, on behalf of victims of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka against Shavendra Silva, a former military general who commanded the 58th Division of the Sri Lankan army during the war.

Special recognition to Ali A. Beydoun, UNROW Director and Supervisor, and students Diana Damschroder, Amira Mikhail, and Whitney-Ann Mulhauser for their writing and editing of this piece.

Legal Case of the Tamil Genocide 30 December 2014 by Thavam Ratna

President Sirisena Needs To Be Resolute

By Kumar David -January 18, 2015

Prof. Kumar David

“Compassion” for scoundrels and dearth of grit are not good signs; President Sirisena needs to be resolute

Basil walked through Katunayake without let or hindrance; obviously there was no order in place to prevent escape. How many million dollars were in his baggage

Maithripala Sirisena’s victory was time for good cheer and his 100-day Work Plan occasion for exhilaration; two big steps forward. I certainly am no silly idealist who imagines that all 100 steps can be achieved in full, but if important matters are addressed to satisfaction President Sirisena will go down as the president who navigated the greatest achievements in the shortest time. It would be churlish to pick holes within a week of his taking office unless the matters are serious, but one of the two items I have in mind is much discussed in the media already. That is how was Basil able to abscond despite President and Eng. Patali Ranawaka’s assurances that big crooks will be brought to justice and not permitted to flee?

Basil walked through Katunayake without let or hindrance; obviously there was no order in place to prevent escape. How many million dollars were in his baggage – I think nothing was checked? There is no point picking on, or pinning the blame on low level officials; Basil could not have scooted without a Presidential nod. There are two explanations. As they were buddies in the Rajapaksa cabal for a decade a degree of personal friendship may have grown, so the President may have found it squeamish to take an old buddy into preventive custody. The other possibility is that the powers that be, not just the President, thought it less messy to let the scumbag get away than endure a lengthy and embarrassing trial. Either way so serious a misstep, so early in the day, will embarrass not the President’s opponents but those who placed their trust in him.Read More

Crossovers: JVP wants SC judgment reversed

Crossovers: JVP wants SC judgment reversed

BY Ruwan Laknath Jayakody-2015-01-19

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said that the law needs to be strengthened to allow for crossovers to lose their seats in Parliament.
JVP MP Sunil Handunneththi stated that in light of bringing in proposed Constitutional amendments, the law pertaining to crossovers should be brought back reversing the Supreme Court judgment, deeming expulsions to be invalid, thereby preventing those who crossover from challenging it in Courts.

"The law still states that crossovers lose their seats in the Parliament. In the case of Sarath Amunugama and Others v. Karu Jayasuriya, Chairman, United National Party and Others, in 2000, the Supreme Court held expulsions to be invalid on the grounds of procedural impropriety. In the Constitutional Amendments proposed we must implement this law so that even the Courts cannot have any jurisdiction in the matter," he added.

Sri Lanka: JVP Wants To Ban Dual Citizenship Holders Contesting Elections

[National Executive Council]-18/01/2015 

The JVP, taking into consideration the current situation in the country, intends presenting proposals to the National Executive Council to stop anyone with dual citizenship contesting any election in the country and cancelling the seat of any Parliamentarian crossing over from the political party he has been elected says the Leader of the JVP Anura Dissanayaka.

The National Executive Council formed to carry out the political transformation the country needs met for the first time on the 15th. President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, Leader of the JVP Anura Dissanayaka, General Secretary of JHU Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, the Leader of Democratic Party Sarath Fonseka, Mano Ganeshan of Democratic People’s Front, Leader of SLMC Rauff Hakeem, Leader of All Ceylon Muslim Congress Rishard Badhurdeen and the Leader of TNA R Sambanthan participated.

– Lanka Truth

Why Sri Lanka Needs Racism

By V. Kanthaiya -January 18, 2015

First of all, I was thinking whether I should write this at all, because I was not sure whether you would like to read it. The problem is this; most of us are embarrassed to accept openly that we are racist. Let me explain. This is because you live in an area where other ethnic groups also live, and you work in a hi-fi office with wi-fi, where the toilets doesn’t have water, instead a roll of paper is kept, and you talk to your colleagues in pure English with lots of “Machang”. I tell you; you are a civilized social animal. That’s the exact reason.

Coming back to the embarrassment part, every country, if I say specifically, people in every country have something to be embarrassed with. This is a global phenomenon, not unique to Sri Lanka. For instance, a survey which I don’t have much information about, states that the young adults in western countries are embarrassed to acknowledge that they are virgin, because they believe only the losers remain virgin when they reach 18 years old. This made me think for a week and an additional two days that the world famous former adult entertainer and the present Bollywood star Sunny Leone is a loser, because recently she has publicly announced that She “is” a virgin.

At this point, you would feel that this piece of writing is really worth reading. I apologize for disappointing you. To your greatest dismay, this article is not about Sunny Leone or about virginity in general. This is about racism. I recently discovered that we Sri Lankans can’t live without racism. Why? Because racism is cool, racism is fun and it gives you the sense of intoxication, exactly like when you smoke a “joint”.

Let me elaborate on this. Have you ever thought about the scientific nature of being “doped”? There are various forms of intoxication. I take cocaine for an example. Wikipedia, the source most of the intellectuals obtain the knowledge from, states cocaine increases alertness, feelings of well-being and euphoria, energy and motor activity, feelings of competence and sexuality. Common effects also include anxiety, increased temperature, paranoia, restlessness and tooth grinding. This is exactly the same thing you would feel when you listen to Venerable Galagoda Atte gnanasara Thero’s Speech, provided you believe that the concept fed into your mind is true and accurate. The terminologies such as international conspiracy, Diaspora, Eelam, Our mother land, betrayal, and traitor are identified to the effective “dope” catalysts.

All the racial hate speeches have the same elements. You would be told that you are under attack. Your women are being harassed. Your businesses are being destroyed. Your lands are being taken; your religion is being humiliated. Your places of worship are being destroyed and the cattle (not chicken) are being massacred. Once you hear them, your body will automatically turn to defence or attack mode. You would be able to feel the adrenaline rush in your veins. You would be able to hear your own heart beat. You would feel that you are more powerful that what you think about yourself, and also feel anxiety, increased temperature, paranoia, restlessness and tooth grinding. I would like to bring to your attention that these are the same effects that cocaine gives.

I like to state my view clearly. My humble opinion is that Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) is a non-violent movement, emerged to protect both Cattle and Buddhist rights. However, the western imperialistic force (whose view is that being a virgin after you pass your teenage is an embarrassment) has depicted BBS as a Buddhist Jihad. I strongly believe that venerable Galagoda Atte gnanasara Thero’s speeches, which are rich in racial hatred purely due to coincidence and not because the Thero hates the minority communities. It gives entertainment to the masses that are fed up in their life due to its monotonous, tedious, uninteresting, unexciting, mind-numbing, mechanical, uniform and self-destroying nature. The BBS goes out and tell these devastated people that they are special, they are invincible, they are born to rule, they are above the law and they are the chosen ones to protect the cattle from being slaughtered.

This is completely acceptable from an objective point of view as motivating someone and giving a purpose to his/her life is something incredible. But there is a niche segment in the masses that gets very “high” out of the racist preaching. Once they get very “high” they forget themselves and let them on the loose. They attack the minorities, burn their businesses, burn their houses and make the entire country an utter chaos.

I have used the BBS as example. But this special intoxication is not limited to BBS or Sinhalese at all. The minorities are also privileged to experience this intoxication from the so called Tamil nationalism and the Muslim communalism. But the problem is even if they get very “high” out of their own racism; they can’t let them loose and make a mess in public, as the ruling government will always be willing to ensure the law and order in that case.

Racism is a fully fledged industry in Sri Lanka. It was first started in 1956 by SWRD Bandaranaike with the Sinhala only Act. Presently political parties are not the only stakeholders/ beneficiaries of this business. There comes the nationalist media which keep on brainwashing the masses that minorities are carrying out a conspiracy to divide the country. Another important stakeholder of this industry the so called political scientists and political commentators who portray themselves as the intellectual warriors who incessantly fight against the western imperialistic forces, especially against the UNHCR to protect the country. On the other hand, from the side of minorities, there are various media institutions which spread racial hatred in the name of demanding justice for the atrocities committed against them. It can be proved beyond doubt that there are so many people who make fabulous living out of the racism business.

Presently the President Maithripala Sirisena’s government has come to power using the concept of good governance, rule of law and harmony. The masses might have found these concepts amusing as theRajapaksa government was using the same international conspiracy stories for ten years. My question is how long the masses will find these concepts of good governance, rule of law and religious harmony entertaining them. I would like to note about the previous Ranil wickramasinghe era of 2002- 2004 which was also based on the same concepts, especially the ethnic harmony and peace. But what happened? After two years, the masses found the so called “peace” to be boring and wanted the “kick” out of the intentional conspiracy stories. Then came comrade Wimal Weerawansa, Jathika Hela Urumaya and finally Mahinda Rajapaksa & Co. who gave unlimited supply of racism “dope”.

Under these circumstances, I doubt how long Sri Lankans will allow President Maithripala Sirisena to continue his ethnic harmony and reconciliation. Masses would again find it to be boring like what happened in 2004 and would want comrade Wimal Weerawansa and the other so called guardians of the mother land to the stage to entertain them with their international conspiracy, Diaspora and Eelam stories.

Our political activists may ask that how the western nations which have banned the racial hatred through their constitution, exist without racism. Well! The western or the developed countries eradicated racism through the public consensus and still they have racism on limited scale. And they have enough supply of real dopes and other entertainments which gives them the same adrenaline rush (which are banned in Sri Lanka as a threat to our social values).

Presently, with the winning of Maithripala Sirisena, Sri Lanka may seem to have got rid of racism. But it is only an illusion. Sri Lankans have become too addicted to its intoxication. Even if the masses find an alternative source to get the intoxication, the racism industry players such as the political parties and the media will not allow them recover. So racism is an integrated element in our politics and thus in our day to day life.

Long live Sri Lanka… Long live Sri Lankans… and Long live racism….

India, Lanka set to start talks on Tamil refugees

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj shakes hands with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in New Delhi on Sunday. (PTI Photo) 

Written by Shubhajit Roy | Posted: January 19, 2015

Delhi and Colombo are set to start “serious” talks on repatriation of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who have taken shelter in India.

This was decided at a meeting lasting over three hours between visiting Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here Sunday. “The talks for repatriation will begin by end of January,” MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

There are an estimated one lakh Lankan Tamil refugees in India, who had fled Lanka during the war between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army. Though the war ended more than five years ago, the Mahinda Rajapaksa government ruled the north with an iron thumb, not inspiring any confidence among Lankan Tamil refugees to return.

However, since the new government under Maithripala Sirisena came to power early this month, Colombo has shown willingness to work towards “land rights”, “police powers” and “demilitarisation” in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. This has been reflected in the 100-day agenda unveiled by the Sirisena administration.

India was the first port of call for Samaraweera, five days after he took over as the foreign minister. In his talks with Swaraj, he briefed her on the new government’s policies towards Lankan Tamils.

Swaraj reportedly saw the plans as “positive”, and used the opportunity to raise the issue of “repatriation” of Lankan refugees.
“India is keen that genuine political reconciliation takes place in Sri Lanka. Though these are early days for the new government, they have sent positive signals. This is a perfect opportunity to start talking about these refugees going back to their homeland,” a government source privy to the discussions between the two countries said.

Sources said preliminary talks had been held between the ousted Rajapaksa government and New Delhi on the matter a few years ago, but had not yielded any results. “There was lack of seriousness in their efforts towards political reconciliation in the last five years. This deterred the refugees to return,” a source said.

The talks between Swaraj and Samaraweera also focused on Indian development partnership and fishermen-related issues.
In fact, the Sirisena government has released the last remaining Indian fishermen from Lankan prisons, numbering 15, in a special gesture ahead of its foreign minister’s visit.  Now Lanka will be working on returning 87 Indian boats.

The two sides also discussed a calendar of bilateral visits — Swaraj and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been invited by Colombo, while the Lankan president is expected to visit in February.

Mohan Peiris CJ (cheat justice) to be arrested ? 20 years jail term if found guilty

(Lanka-e-News- 18.Jan.2015, 6.45PM) Mohan Peiris the chief justice of Sri Lanka in a dramatic turn of events following the dethronement of the brutal barbaric regime of Mahinda Rajapakse is to be arrested on charges of attempting to destabilize the country and a sovereign government of the people ,and rig the true results of the Presidential elections 2014 which installed the new legally elected President based on the exercise of the legitimate rights of the people who elected him , according to information based on very reliable sources.

Charges have been mounted against Mohan Peiris of committing or conspiring to commit an offence against the government and therefore liable to punishment under section 115 of the penal code chapter six which relates to treason committed against the state .

Investigations into a complaint lodged with the CID by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraeera that on the day of the Presidential elections, a group along with former President Mahinda Rajapakse engaged in a conspiracy at temple Trees against the legally elected government to capture power illicitly by annulling the election results after imposing emergency regulations, have necessitated that steps be taken to arrest the former CJ, reliable sources within the CID revealed.

In the written complaint made to the CID on Wednesday (14) it is alleged by Samaraweera that the ex defense ministry secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse ,ex foreign minister Dr. G L Peiris , ex western provincial council member Udaya Gammanpila and Mohan Peiris have together planned this conspiracy, and therefore the law should be duly enforced against them.

The investigations have exposed that Mohan Pairis CJ had proffered legal advice to give effect to this conspiratorial plan when the elections results began to take a turn against the victory of Mahinda Rajapakse , and that he had made attempts to illicitly by conspiracy or other actions to halt the announcement of the true results.

It has also come to light that the CJ had given advice to introduce emergency regulations Island wide ,create a tense situation , and lay siege to the counting centers after deploying the forces.

After enlisting the soldiers of the Panagoda army camp corps , it was planned to surround the office of the elections commissioner and the staff of his , create a fear psychosis , and destabilize the country to achieve which end the necessary legal (illegal) muscle was also to be given.

Already ,the CID has also received information confirming that with the intervention of the IGP, army commander and the attorney general ,this move was foiled. Legal luminaries and experts are of the opinion these actions of Mohan Peiris to incite unrest , or rebellion against the government is tantamount to treason against a legally elected government on grounds of authorizing illegal war or rebellion against a legitimate government under the penal code.

In the circumstances , Mohan Pairis is liable to a punishment of 20 years in jail under section 115 of the penal code for conspiring to commit treason against the state if proved guilty , which is a most grave offence against a state under the laws.

There are legal precedents laid down by law based on court judgments delivered against individuals guilty of crimes against the state. The relevant cases considered as important are : Queen vs Henpitagedera Gnanaseeha Thera (1968) ;Liyanage vs Queen (1966) ;Queen vs Abeysinghe (1966) .

The CID is to commence investigations today , and a special CID team is to be detailed to record the statements of Percy Mahendra Rajapakse , Gotabaya Rajapakse , Dr. G L Peiris and Udaya Gammanpila in addition to Mohan Peiris.

Working behind the scenes for change in Sri Lanka

J.C. Weliamuna. Photo: Meera Srinivasan

MEERA SRINIVASAN-January 18, 2015

A combination of political factors may have led to the defeat of the former Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, in the January 8 polls, but a small group of activist-lawyers may have sowed the seeds of regime change at least two years ago.

It all began with the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake by President Rajapaksa in January 2013, recalls constitutional lawyer J.C. Weliamuna, who was at the forefront of a lawyers’ movement against the controversial motion. He and constitutional law expert Jayampathy Wickramaratne later emerged key civil society voices that sought to give form to the simmering anger in the country, targeting a regime change that they saw as the only way out.

Tracing the roots of the anti-Rajapaksa sentiment, which would later grow strong enough to unseat him, he said: “University teachers also put together a huge struggle at that time. It was clear that different sections of society were deeply concerned with the regime’s authoritarian ways.”

Over a period, the activist-lawyers managed to successfully mobilise dissenting sections against the regime, that too at a time when many feared threats and intimidation by the State. As a human rights activist, Mr. Weliamuna faced a grenade attack on his home in 2009. As international pressure over Sri Lanka’s rights record began mounting, the government started seeing critical voices as “traitors”, he said. “We got no media support. Either they [media houses] were controlled by the state or they practised self-censorship.”

That is when the activists started canvassing with the political parties. “We knew we could not fight alone.” They also began collaborating in Buddhist monk Sobitha Thero’s National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ). All of them agreed conceptually on the campaign for abolition of executive presidency. “We thought that would connect people from diverse backgrounds. Then, we had to think of a common candidate to contest against Mr. Rajapaksa.”

This seemed a major task for the group which knew it was no easy task to challenge Mr. Rajapaksa, who, to a sizeable majority of the Sinhalese electorate, was a charismatic and invincible leader. That was when the political actors gradually stepped in. The comeback of the former President, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, and the role played by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe proved crucial.

“They were toying with the idea of a candidate from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party [founded by Ms. Kumaratunga’s father] when President Rajapaksa called snap polls, causing disarray.” In a public speech at that time, a confident Mr. Rajapaksa remarked: “I am in the ring. Where is my opponent?”

Several closed-door meetings later – most of the communication was through technology conducive for greater privacy – things began taking shape. The ensuing defection of President Sirisena, much to the shock of Mr. Rajapaksa, and the coming together of a “rainbow coalition” to back him have now made their way into Sri Lanka’s political history.

Until then, many in the Rajapaksa camp were expecting Mr. Wickremesinghe to contest and had even begun working on a campaign attacking him. “Once Mr. Sirisena crossed over, they had to redesign the entire campaign and the time was limited.”

The political leadership provided by Ms. Kumaratunga and Mr. Wickremesinghe to the joint opposition was “just fantastic”. As was the joint opposition team's effort to consolidate their election campaign points around issues such as abuse of power, family rule and corruption.

Former diplomats, academicians and civil society members continued to support the campaign and pitched in. “It was a collective effort. No one person can take credit for this,” Mr. Weliamuna said, adding that many had, over the years, risked their lives and some were still in exile. The real learning from all this, he said, was: "To change the world you don’t need millions. You just need a few determined people.”

Sri Lanka Presidential polls: Full Coverage

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In depth: All you need to know about Maithripala Sirisena Read here

Timeline: A look into the political history of the island nation from 1956.Read here

Commentaries: With Maithripala Sirisena recording a resounding victory, we have a few commentators who have voiced their views regarding the people's mandate Read here