Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Help find Sarath Silva’s trousers lost in the Diyawanna banks!

mr sarathThursday, 02 July 2015
Do humans wear clothing to cover their nudity? Or else, it just because others wear them? This question comes to our mind when considering the conduct of former chief justice Sarath Nanda Silva. Yesterday (01), he went to Medamulana to listen to a sermon, and sat close to Mahinda and Shiranthi, just like he did as the bestman at their wedding. Now, he was at this political funeral of Mahinda. True friends are like that.

However, a few months ago, addressing an anti-Rajapaksa rally at the Ananda Samarakoon outdoor theatre in Nugegoda, it was this same Sarath Silva who apologized to the entire nation for having heard the Helping Hambantota case wrongly and having freed Mahinda Rajapaksa, the tsunami thief. Sarath Silva has proved several times that shamelessness is worse than the office of the chief justice.
One case in point is when he was caught by police with a beautiful female lawyer sans his trousers in a car parked by the Diyawanna Oya banks. A naked Sarath Silva called from his mobile phone the then fiheries minister and his Law College buddy Mahinda Rajapaksa. Making maximum use of the opportunity, Rajapaksa got him freed. But, that was the beginning of Sarath Silva’s getting arrested by Mahinda Rajapaksa. In his hurry, Sarath Silva escaped from police and went home without his trousers thanking Mahinda. From that day on, he does not wear trousers.
Showing his gratitude, Sarath Silva helped Mahinda on more than one occasion during the period he was the CJ. He paved the way for Chandrika to go home early and for Mahinda to contest the presidential election. He saved Mahinda who was about to go to prison for having swindled millions of tsunami aid money, and threatened the complainant, Kabir Hashim, the present UNP general secretary, with imprisonment if he did not withdraw the case at the Supreme Court.
When observing the Five Precepts, Sarath Silva does not say the third and fifth ones, and he is a born storey teller and a good drinker. On Chandrika’s order and using his knowledge and together with G.L. and Jayampathy, he made a big contribution to the committee tasked with drafting a new constitution. It should be mentioned here that the expertise of Sarath Silva, the bad man he is, on constitutional law is second only to that of the late SC judge Mark Fernando
During the deliberations of this committee, while having a drink Sarath Silva targets his Law College buddy Mahinda as his ‘bite.’ Mahinda, a complete ignoramus of the law, was prepared for the exam by his batchmates the late Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, former SC judge Nihal Jayasinghe and Sarath Silva. At that time, most of the Law College qestion papers consisted of multiple choice questions. Bribing the college’s peons, Sarath Silva and others lift the question papers on the night before the exam and train Mahinda, not to understand the questions, but to underline the third choice for the first question, first choice for the second question etc. But, Mahinda does the reverse. For the first question, he underlines the second choice and for the second question he underlines the third choice. “At that time, he proved to us that all his generations were herdsmen,” Sarath Silva says to loud laughter by all those present.
That Sarath Silva apologized to the entire nation just a few months ago for not having sent Mahinda Rajapaksa to prison.  Both he and Mahinda do not remember the past. Both think that we too, are fools like them. Anyhow, we appreciate Sarath Silva’s decision to get buried along with Mahinda.
N.B.
It was the then president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who committed the historic wrong of having appointed Sarath Silva as the CJ. On the night previous to the appointment day, Chandrika told renowned human rights lawyer and her close friend, senior advocate R.K.W. Gunasekara who asked as to who would be appointed to the position, “Don’t worry, Mark is my choice.” Chandrika assured him that Mark would be made the CJ, on the basis of his seniority and expertise on law.
However, it did not happen. Mark was cut because he was a Catholic, and Sinhala Buddhist Sarath Silva was made the CJ. R.K.W. Gunasekara could not forget, until his death because he was such a sensitive person, this outrageous breach of promise by a president. Several times, Chandrika apologized to him, but he never pardoned her. Today, the entire nation is experiencing the result of that wrong.

Under the very tree where D.A. Rajapakse’s defeat was sealed , Mahinda and Namal wear their shrouds of political death


LEN logo(Lanka-e-News- 02.July.2015, 12.30PM) Brutal corrupt people rejected Mahinda Rajapakse while jeopardising his  own frustrated son Namal Rajapakse’s  SLFP party rights, and under the Medamulana family history tree where the defeat of his father was sealed  beyond doubt in 1960 , yesterday , symbolically sought to resurrect his political career himself that is dying a natural death having become  aware he  cannot actually revive it . Lanka  e news posts  this report which the whole country longed for  with great delight.
President Maithripala Sirisena who heads the SLFP led by the UPFA in no uncertain terms declared that he would not give nominations under the parties he leads to the most disgracefully deposed people discarded brutal corrupt Mahinda Rajapakse or members of his corrupt clan . This confirmation   report was posted by Lanka e News on the 29 th of June.
Mahinda Rajapakse who by now has obtained this report ,making an official  announcement under the tree where his father late D.A. Rajapakse’s defeat was sealed said , he will be contesting the up coming elections under the new alliance that is being launched while artificially  maintaining a rosy  optimism amidst his  drowning  and naturally dying political career.
This scenario is  reminiscent of the days of his father’s own humiliating defeat at the elections of 19 th March 1960 , when D .A .Rajapakse left the SLFP and contested under the Mahajana eksath Peramuna(MEP) only to face a most crushing defeat.That day D. A .Rajapakse too , as if it was  fated that way , spoke from under this same tree which marked his beginning of the end as did Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday . Mahinda may not be knowing that, yesterday he has also blasted  the political career of Namal Rajapakse too.
Unfortunately for the Rajapakses despite their great expectations of a huge SLFP crowd at Medamulana , such a crowd did not arrive yesterday . Apart from the family of rogues of Mahinda including Shiranthee , Gota, Chamal (retired from politics)  , only Bandula, T,B, Pavithra, G.L., Lokuge, Welgama, Raththaran , Duminda Silva, Chandrasena , Mahindananda, Muthuhettigama, Keheliya, Manusha, Johnston , Sarana , Chandima Weerakody , Chief minister Ranatunge and  S.M.Mahipala who know fully well that they will not receive nomination from Maithri, , as well as the presently disdained and dejected Weerawansa , Dinesh and Gammanpila the politically discarded people rejected group were present. 
Even Basil Rajapakse another strong pillar of the Rajapakse regime did not take part in this Medamulana rogues’ desperate attempt to rebuild a crumbling alliance. Among the artistes only Malini Fonseka was present .Jackson Anthony another ace hypocritical crook and a favorite henchman of the  Rajapakses  who made a most profane utterance that  Mahinda Rajapakse’s perfidious  lineage is linked with Lord Buddha’s blood realtionship  too was nowhere to be seen in spite of our every effort made to locate him. Sarath N .Silva the ex chief (cheat ) justice who after delivering a court verdict earlier on  to save Mahinda in the Tsunami funds fraud , and later made a din that it is he who saved Mahinda from it and asked for pardon from the people for making that mistake , appearing at Medamulana made a big contribution to the contamination already permeating the  Medamulana atmosphere .
There were also no shortage of murderers , hoodlums and goons of the Rajapakses including the notorious Kahawatte Suddha and  Moorthy to prop up the manifestly  deflated and degraded Rajapakses. 
The ‘rogues for rogues’ alliance of the Rajapakses until yesterday were painting a picture that they will receive nominations from Maithri. However when it became clear that will not materalize , a large number of SLFP seniors instead of folllowing the self destructive Rajapakses who are fast heading for  a total annihalation , decided to show to the world  that they are with Maithri and the officially acknowledged  SLFP .
The desperate brutal corrupt Mahinda Rajapakse who  wilted in the face of this today’s fiasco however made  a speech on the occasion . His speech only clearly and  abundantly proved how  true is the maxim  ‘ when  God wants to destroy somebody , he first drives him mad.’ Mahinda made crazy stateents : some identify him as ‘ a kind dictator,’  when the stark obvious truth is people identify him as a brutal corrupt dictator. During the past he and his clan    were gripped in fear , he said. Of course   that is true because his guilty conscience froze him to death with fear  when he was summoned to the Bribery and corruption commission to record  a statement .
On 8 th January the people’s force demanded that the culprits including rogues and murderers be punished. Naturally, Rajapakses being not only rogues but even brutal murderers , getting frightened is therefore understandable.
Mahinda went on to say  , after the presidential elections result, in some homes the stove fire did not light , and in the households  there was weeping.’ This is true  because those culprits who thrived under the Rajapakses ,on hearing that Rajapakse family  and relatives have wrought destruction , weeped in fear that their crimes would be now known , and they will not be able to commit those crimes with impunity again.No wonder they are today hell bent to come back to power by fair or foul means because that is the only way they can cover up all their criminalities, and escape punishment ,that is by retaining Alibaba (chieftain of the rogues) at the top though they are parading that they are driven by genuine motives ostensibly to serve and save the people. 
Raththaran another crook of this perfidious Blue brigade when speaking to the media said , ‘we don’t want anything, we only want Mahinda’. This rogue did not say ‘we want to do service to the people’. Hence, obviously they want Mahinda and not the people because it is Mahinda (Alibaba) the chieftain of the crooks and criminals  who can save those culprits , and help them to resume their criminal activities at top gear. These scoundrels  know if they serve the people they cannot serve their own selfish criminal agendas  through the people , as Mahinda and Mahinda alone can stand by them in all their criminal activities.
Mahinda Rajapakse who is on the inexorable road to perdition related some more crazy stories like the eccentric leader before his annihilation . ‘During the 100 days , all politicos who took  opposing stances were put in jail. Cases against  corrupt culprits were withdrawn. We on the other hand safeguarded the supremacy of the law. We did not do anything flouting the constitution.During our time , if a  minister scolds the courts he was put in jail. After making one of our members to kneel down at Matugama , the vindictiveness began. At that time  the elections held set  good examples.Even the foreigners were surprised,’ Mahinda exclaimed.
 People who remember even the history that covers  just past five months must be cursing Mahinda as a ‘mad man’. They must be saying among themselves ’ isn’t this the same bloke who after committing these treacheries is also reminding the people of them?’
After the general  elections in August , the ‘rogues for rogues’ front of the Rajapakses must be learning a lot of things from the people who are already geared  to teach them some bitter lessons of  their life time and  even of life thereafter : about the next soul and  the four infernal hells  are among those lessons ,for creating inescapable hell to the people they ruled .
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by     (2015-07-02 07:48:23)

Rāvaya ‘Staff-Shareholders’ Clueless About Ivan’s Rs 5 Million Heist


Colombo TelegraphJuly 2, 2015
None of the Ravaya staff shareholders apart from the Directors who are said to represent them, are aware that Victor Ivan was paid Rs 5 million from funds collected from the public, Colombo Telegraph learns.
Victor Ivan
Victor Ivan
Colombo Telegraph interviewed several key members of the Ravaya staff and they all said they were unaware of this transaction.
For example, when contacted by Colombo Telegraph, its News Editor Lasantha Ruhunage said he was not aware of any such transaction. When asked whether he would say that on record, Ruhunage said he needed a “half an hour” to prepare a statement on the matter.
When we tried to contact him after half an hour, Ruhunage’s did not pick up the phone. Then, the Colombo Telegraph contacted another staff member of Ravaya and asked him to hand over the phone to Ruhunage. At that point, the News Editor of Ravaya said he was busy and hung up the phone.
Ruhunage is a stalwart of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association and the Free Media Movement.
Efforts to contact the Editor of Ravaya, K.W. Janaranjana, have proved unsuccessful.
Ravaya, which has been a strong advocate of accountability and transparency, never disclosed in its appeal to supporters that Rs 5 Million of the funds collected would be given to any individual.
Meanwhile on the 19th of June, when Colombo Telegraph asked Kusal Perera (a key member of Ravaya Solidarity) about this matter, i.e. before we first published the story, he asked us to contact Ivan about what stakeholders can do with their stakes.Read More

Alleged Assault of Domestic Helper; SC Judge May Face Arrest

Untitled
Sri Lanka Brief02/07/2015
The Lawyers Collective wants the judge to step downYasaratne GamageSupreme Court Judge Justice Sarath De Abrew who allegedly assaulted a domestic helper with a pistol butt may face arrest or criminal charges.
According to Police Media Spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara, the CID which handles the case will report the details of the case to the Mount Lavinia Magistrate seeking a directive from the court for further action.
Earlier the police sought to interview the Supreme Court judge in connection with the assault case, but refused to accede to the request.
Thereafter, the IGP had handed over the case to the Criminal Investigations Department for further investigations. The CID apparently has recorded a statement from the domestic helper who was subjected to alleged assault by the Supreme Court judge. The Police Media Spokesman also said the police refrained from arresting the Supreme Court judge, initially out of respect towards the judiciary, but would be compelled to act according to the directives of the Magistrate.
The whole drama began when the housemaid lodged a complaint with the Mount Lavinia Police stating that she had been subjected to pistol whips from Justice Sarath De Abrew on several occasions. She also stated in her complaint that since she started work at the residence of the judge she had been kept in detention.
The Mount Lavinia Police directed the woman to the Kalubowila hospital with a B form and provided woman constables security acceding a request by the Judicial medical Officer Meanwhile, Lawyers Collective Spokesman Krishantha Weliamuna told the Daily News that judges are not immune from the Criminal Justice System and that they have to face and accept the laws of the country like any other citizen.
He further said the judge in question had unacceptable bouts of behaviour in the past too. On an earlier occasion too, the judge in question had assaulted police officers but all cases were surreptitiously settled. It was also reported that he had thrown a bottle at another judge at an Indian Airport. Mr. Weliamuna said that the Lawyers Collective expects him to step down without further embarrassing other judges and citizens of the country

Lawyer wants President, ex-CJ summoned - Mohamed Shiyam murder case

By Ishara Rathnakara-2015-07-03
Lawyers appearing for the fourth accused in the Mohamed Shiyam murder case yesterday (2) requested the Colombo High Court to summon nine witnesses including President Maithripala Sirisena and Former Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake to give evidence.

Mohamed Shiyam was a businessman from Bambalapitiya, who was allegedly killed by Former DIG Vaas Gunawardena.
Lawyer Jaliya Samarasinghe made this request from a three-Judge Bench yesterday. The cross examination of the case is over. The Court informed the defence to call those who are willing to give evidence on behalf of the defendants.
Accordingly, Samarasinghe the lawyer for the fourth accused, Police Constable   Ananda Pathirage Priyantha Sanjeewa submitted to Court a list of witnesses he wished to summon. The list is as follows:
The accused Ananda Pathirage
SSP Palitha Panamaldeniya – police headquarters
SSP Priyantha Sanjeewa – police headquarters
Registrar – Colombo High Court
Registrar – Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court
President Maithripala Sirisena
Secretary to the President – Presidential Secretariat
Registrar – Supreme Court
Former Chief Justice
Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake
Attorney Samarasinghe while submitting the list requested the Court to issue summons on the nine witnesses to give evidence on the dates to be announced by Court.
The case is being heard before a special panel of three judges comprising Lalith Jayasuriya (chairman), Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena and Amendra Senaratne.
The case was postponed until the 8 July.
Thajudeen’s phone records could not be retrieved

2015-07-02
Dialog Telekom PLC today asserted by an affidavit to a Colombo Magistrate that it could not provide telephone details pertaining to former Havelock’s Rugby Captain Wasim Thajudeen due to technical and practical limitation. Wasim Thajudeen died under suspicious circumstances in an accident in May, 2012.

Senior Counsel Ranil Samarasooriya with Madhawa Wijeyasriwardane and Manjula Ranasinghe who appeared on behalf of the telecom company made this remarks to Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Pieris.

The Senior Counsel said due to technical and practical limitation the company could only provide telephone details only for a period covering the past three months.

Senior State Counsel Dilan Ratnayake appearing for the CID for the prosecution contended that even though the company asserted that it could not provide some information for more than three months, still the company could provide information on the Emi numbers and the towers that encoded and decoded the messages to the parties. They sought Court to direct the Dialog mobile phone company to provide those details to the CID.

Accordingly, Magistrate Pieris directed Dialog Telekom to provide whatever information it could to the CID and assist the investigations. However, the Magistrate said that the court cannot issue an order directing Telecom Company to provide information which is not in their system.

He also directed the CID to study the affidavit filed in court and make representations if any on the affidavit in court on September 10 to act appropriately.

Former Havelock SC captain Wasim Thajudeen was killed in a road accident in Colombo in May 2012.

According to Police while Thajudeen was driving to the airport he had lost control of the car and crashed into the wall of Shalika Grounds on Park Road Narahenpita and exploded within seconds of the crash.

Although police said the death was accidental, SSP Ajith Rohana on February 26 this year said it was suspicious. He said according to the JMO, his death could not have been due to natural causes. (TFT, LS) - See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/78261/thajudeen-s-phone-records-could-not-be-retrieved#sthash.H1gYUOdJ.dpuf

Travails Of Travelling With Emirates

Colombo Telegraph
By Bandula Kothalawala –July 2, 2015
Dr. Bandula Kothalawala
Dr. Bandula Kothalawala
I wish to express extreme disappointment and disgust over the treatment I received at the hands of Emirates on EK006 and EK654 on 4 June 2015 from London to Colombo via Dubai.
I am a disabled person on a wheelchair. I made the booking after carefully reading the advice from the airline for passengers with special needs and complied with it. Emirates says, inter alia, on its website:
We provide storage for one passenger’s collapsible, manual wheelchair in the aircraft cabin on many Emirates aircraft on a first-come first-served basis, if you request for pre-boarding assistance at the departure gate. If you wish to take your own wheelchair to the gate, you must arrive at the gate at least 60 minutes prior to departure.
Wheelchairs or assistive devices that are too large or heavy to be accommodated in the aircraft cabin will be carried in the hold.

Three policemen arrested for accepting bribe




2015-07-02
Police have arrested three policemen of 119 Division of Cinnamon Garden Police for allegedly obtaining Rs 2000 from a couple while they were on night patrol. Two police sergeants and a driver have been arrested in connection to this incident.
The policemen have demanded for Rs 6000 from the couple, but have only obtained Rs 2000. However it has been revealed that the policemen had an amount of over Rs 5000 when investigated.
Policemen have to declare the amount of cash at hand before leaving the police station for patrolling. However these three policemen have not done so, police said.

Territorializing the environment:

The political question of land and the future of the displaced in Musali South 


By Sivamohan Sumathy-July 2, 2015


I have in the past few weeks attended two of Shahul Hasbullah’s excellently laid out map of the displaced in the Musali South area and the entanglement of that in a controversy of ‘environmental’ proportions, the Wilpattu question, first at the University of Peradeniya, where he is a Professor in Geography, and later at the Social Scientist Association Auditorium. Imagine my shock and dismay then, when just a few hours after listening to an informative and layered lecture, delivered by him on the 28th June, 2015, pointing at the complexity of the situation surrounding the current controversy over Wilpattu and Musali South, I had to listen to a news broadcast on the subject, which rode roughshod over many of the concerns raised by Hasbullah. It was a report on Wilpattu featuring Sajeewa Chamikara, the supposed environmentalist expounding on the controversy, from the perspective of environmentality. 

Fox NewsPublished on Jul 2, 2015
UPDATE: False Alert. BREAKING: Washington Navy Yard on lock-down amid reports of gunman
US navy confirms investigation is ongoing as police close streets
Military base was site of 2013 shooting in which 12 died
Washington Navy Yard is on lockdown with a “shelter order” in place, US navy officials said on Thursday, amid unconfirmed reports of an active gunman.

US navy officials confirmed on Twitter that an investigation was ongoing, but did not give any further information at this time.

DC police have reportedly closed streets near the scene, according to the Washington Post, which reported that US park police were responding to reports of an active shooter within the Navy Yard. A police officer told Reuters the same. The Associated Press had a similar report from an unnamed official.

“No incident can be confirmed as of yet,” the navy said.


Park police could not confirm the incident when reached by the Guardian.

TV news footage showed a massive police response, with streets blocked off with police tape and lines of emergency vehicles. More than eight blocks of nearby roads were shutdown as authorities responded to the scene, the Metropolitan police department told Reuters.
Lt Cmdr Scott Williams said he heard screaming in his building, building 197, the same building where a 2013 shooting took place.

But Williams told CNN outside the Navy Yard that he thought the response was well coordinated. “You can definitely tell that things have changed” since the last shooting, he said.

The military base, the country’s oldest naval installation, was the site of a 2013 shooting in which lone gunman Aaron Alexis killed 12 civilian staff.


That shooting triggered a review by the Pentagon, which concluded that threats to Department of Defense personnel were increasingly coming from trusted insiders and the Pentagon needed to beef up security from within.

The lockdown comes amid heightened security concerns ahead of the US Independence Day holiday weekend.
HD video footage caught on tape cellphone camera surveillance raw dash cam air live tv share comment like most popular speech

Ferry capsizes in Philippines, at least 36 dead (VIDEO)

Screenshot from video showing Thursday afternoon's rescue efforts. Image via Facebook.Screenshot from video showing Thursday afternoon’s rescue efforts. Image via Facebook.
By  Jul 02, 2015
A ferry with 173 passengers has capsized 100 meters (yards) from a pier in the central Philippines, and 36 people are confirmed dead.
Coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo says the captain and some of the crew of the overturned ferry boat have been rescued and are in custody pending an investigation.
He says there were a total of 189 passengers and crew; 127 have been rescued; 36 are dead and 26 more are missing.
Balilo described the boat as a large, 36-ton outrigger that plies the Ormoc-Camotes route regularly.
Balilo says coast guard district head Capt. Pedto Tinampay is requesting a vessel to be able to lift the capsized boat.
According to the Ormoc rescue group team leader Ciriaco Tolibao, six divers are working at the moment along with several army frogmen and coast guard divers, scouring the hull of the overturned boat.
“We are trying hopefully to find survivors or at least recover the bodies,” he says.
It is a low tide now and the bottom part of the boat’s hull is visible above the water.

Low visibility, clouds, a choppy sea and strong winds are hampering the rescue operation at the site where the ferry capsized.
Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, says the air force could not operate in those conditions. He says a team of divers was supposed to be deployed but additional divers could not fly in because of the bad weather.
Balilo says the ferry, MB Kim Nirvana, had just left Ormoc for Camotes Islands, about 44 kilometers (27 miles) to the south, when it was hit by big waves.
Among the 173 passengers were at least three Americans and a Canadian who were rescued Thursday.
Lawrence Drake, 48 years old, of Rochester, New York, said he was able to revive a woman who wasn’t breathing while they were in the water via mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
He says he is a retired firefighter and emergency medical technician. He says he also saved an 8-year-old boy and the woman’s pregnant daughter.
He says he saw at least 7 bodies floating in the water, including two children.
Drake is married to a Filipino. His wife was traveling with him from Ormoc to Camotes along with her mother. They too survived by swimming out of the boat after it overturned.

This footage of the rescue operation was posted on Facebook Thursday afternoon:


Additional reporting from Associated Press

Xenophobia, national security and domestic peace


article_image
 
A British family, who witnessed the beach massacre by a jihadists gunman the previous week, lay flowers at the site of the attack on the beach in front of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Port el Kantaoui, on the outskirts of Sousse south of the capital Tunis, on June 30, 2015. Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi has admitted security services were not prepared for the beach attack, as authorities warned the country is likely to lose more than half-a-billion dollars in tourism revenues. AFP

Russians boycott European summit over Finnish blacklist

Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin has been refused entry to attend an OSCE meeting in Finland because he is on a sanctions blacklist for his role in the Ukraine crisis. (Patrick Hertzog/AFP/Getty Images)
By Carol Morello-July 2
VIENNA — A diplomatic row is brewing between Russia and Finland over Helsinki’s refusal to grant entry visas to six Russian officials who are on a sanctions blacklist over the crisis in Ukraine.
Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, who was among the Russians barred from traveling to Helsinki this weekend for a parliamentary meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told reporters Thursday that the Kremlin considers it “unacceptable” to pare down its 15-member delegation. So Moscow is boycotting the meeting entirely.
The flap illustrates how Russia is trying to get around a punishing set of U.S. and European Union sanctions and entry bans targeting individuals and corporations. The measures were imposed over Russian support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. OSCE monitors in Ukraine are the closest thing there is to a neutral arbiter there, and the organization has been involved in negotiations with the Russian-backed rebels.
The Russian delegation was slated to attend the OSCE parliamentary assembly beginning Sunday. The annual meeting this year commemorates the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki accords, which improved relations between Western and Eastern Europe and led to the creation of the OSCE.
But the Finnish Foreign Ministry announced late Tuesday that it would not make exceptions to the travel bans on the six blacklisted Russians. It said the rest of the Russian delegation was welcome to come.
In a letter to fellow members of the OSCE parliamentary assembly, the institution’s president and a prominent Finnish politician, Ilkka Kanerva, noted that the ban was decided by the Finnish government, not the OSCE.
“On the other hand, the EU sanctions regime is in place because of the clear and gross violation of international norms . . . by the Russian Federation,” he said in the letter, a copy of which was provided to The Washington Post. “Nevertheless, the decision is an unfortunate embodiment of the grave challenges the European security architecture is facing at the moment. The growing mistrust and lack of confidence between the east and the west calls for reversal of this trend, and the OSCE can play a central role in this process.”
The Kremlin summoned the Finnish ambassador to lodge a formal complaint, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Finland’s decision “outrageous.”

“Even given the illegal sanctions decisions of the E.U., exceptions from them should apply to occasions of this kind,” Igor Neverov, a Russian Foreign Ministry official, told the news agency Interfax. “But this does not dissolve the most negative symbolism of this decision, and we definitely see it as unfriendly and inconsistent with principles of neighborliness.”
Naryshkin is one of about 150 Russians and Ukrainians named on an E.U. blacklist for their roles in the Ukraine conflict. He was placed there in March 2014 because he “publicly supported the deployment of Russian forces in Ukraine” and the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Russia, in turn, has banned almost 90 Europeans, including several politicians who have criticized Russia’s activities in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin.
Naryshkin said the Russian delegation hopes to attend the OSCE’s next meeting, scheduled to be held this fall in Mongolia.
Natasha Abbakumova in Moscow contributed to this report.
Read more:
Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Carol Morello is the diplomatic correspondent for The Washington Post, covering the State Department.


US asks Switzerland to extradite seven Fifa officials

Swiss authorities say formal requests have been submitted for extradition of officials arrested in May, but legal process could be lengthy
 Fifa headquarters in Zurich. Photograph: Imago / Barcroft Media/Imago / Barcroft Media


 and agencies-Thursday 2 July 2015
The US has asked Switzerland to extradite seven Fifa officials arrested on corruption charges in dawn raids in May, according to Swiss authorities.
The officials – who include Fifa vice-presidents Jeffrey Webb and Eugenio Figueredo – may face months in detention while the requests are processed. The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said they can take legal challenges to extradition all the way to the Swiss supreme court.
The men are being held in separate detention facilities around Zurich and are permitted only one visit a week, according to a source close to one of the detainees. The executives, who were arrested at a five-star hotel in Zurich on 27 May, two days before a key Fifa congress, have been charged with “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” corruption.
In what the FBI called a “World Cup of shame”, they are accused of receiving bribes totalling $100m (£65m) in return for awarding contracts for media, marketing and sponsorship rights to football tournaments in the US and Latin America. The payments are said to have been routed through American banks.
The charges resulted from an FBI inquiry into football’s world governing body, and the indictment says the men could face up to 20 years in jail if found guilty by a US court.
Jeffrey Webb. Photograph: Szilard Koszticsak/epa/Corbis
A 47-count indictment unveiled in a US federal court in New York charges 14 defendants with racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracies in what it describes as “the defendants’ participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer”.
Fifa’s outgoing president Sepp Blatter has not been arrested and is not among the men facing extradition, but he is reportedly under investigation by the FBI. Days after the arrests he was re-elected to a fifth term, but less than a week later he announced he would lay down his mandate at an extraordinary congress expected to take place early next year.
A statement from the Swiss FOJ said: “The USA has asked Switzerland to extradite the seven Fifa officials arrested in Zurich. The formal extradition requests were submitted to the Federal Office of Justice yesterday evening. 
 Sepp Blatter. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA
“The seven FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich on 27 May 2015 on the basis of a request from the USA, and detained pending extradition. On 1 July 2015, the US embassy in Berne submitted the formal extradition requests within the deadline laid down in the bilateral extradition treaty.
“The requests are based on the arrest warrants issued on 20 May 2015 by the United States attorney’s office for the eastern district of New York, which is investigating the high-ranking Fifa officers on suspicion of taking bribes worth over $100m.” The FOJ said Zurich police would give the seven Fifa officials a hearing over the extradition requests.

The seven officials are: 
  • Jeffrey Webb, Fifa vice-president and former Concacaf president, and a British passport holder from the Cayman Islands.
  • Eugenio Figueredo, Fifa vice-president and former Conmebol president from Uruguay.
  • Eduardo Li, due to be elected to Fifa’s executive committee, and Costa Rica’s FA president.
  • Julio Rocha, Fifa development officer and president of Nicaragua’s FA.
  • Costas Takkas, attache to the Concacaf president, and a British passport holder.
  • Rafael Esquivel, Conmebol executive committee member and Venezuela’s FA president.
  • José Maria Marin, former president of the Brazilian FA.
The US justice department has indicted 18 people as part of its investigation. Four have pleaded guilty to corruption charges, including former Fifa executive member Chuck Blazer, who has admitted taking a bribe to vote for South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup. 
The Swiss authorities are leading a separate investigation into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Fifa is in charge of organising football’s major tournaments, including the World Cup, which takes place every four years.