A tribute to Trevor Grant: “the fine ethical journo” and “a true friend of Eelam Tamils”.
Trevor Grant stood with the Tamil people until the end. He stood with them in their hour of need when their governments failed them and world governments had forsaken them.
Sadly, Trevor Grant succumbed to cancer on 5th March, his death deeply affecting the Tamil world – victims, refugees and activists alike – who owed him a deep debt of gratitude for his relentless campaign for justice on their behalf.
As such, although he first became famous as a great sports writer, and broadcaster, his prolific writings, speeches and interviews, educating the world and the international community on the genocide perpetrated against the Tamil people living in the NorthEast of the island of Sri Lanka and the injustice caused to them after they had to flee their land, will go into the annals of history of the Tamil people and their struggle for freedom – as true evidence of their story as persecuted people in their own homeland and as forgotten and ill treated refugees in various parts of the world and in his own Australia.
Here was a man who was not reticent about calling the 2009 Mullivaikkaal massacre exactly what it was, a genocide and put the issue front and center without fear or favour. Listen to him here making the case for the Tamil genocide:
As ‘convener’ of, and spokesperson for, the Tamil Refugee Council, he was a fearless and vocal defender of the rights of the Tamil people and an outspoken critic of both the Rajapaksa and the Sirisena governments until the very last.
Trevor Grant
Even as a lover of sports he advocated for the boycott of the Sri Lankan Cricket Team on a matter of principle. Hear him explain how Rajapaksa, “a brutal dictator interfered with and used cricket to launder his own image”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz-HE5IFgOw&t=157s He wrote about how Mike Atherton, former captain of the England cricket team, was horrified by what he saw in the documentary ‘Sri Lanka: Killing Fields’ – to make his point.
If one checks his twitter handle his tweets were all about Tamil issues. His last retweet on 24th February 2016 a year ago under this handle, was a tweet from the journalist, academic and activist, Wendy Bacon who called him, “the fine ethical journo.”
Constantly exposing the Australian Government’s complicity he tweeted about, “how Australia had become an enabler for accused war criminals. In that tweet he shared his article in which he wrote, “he was not surprised,”by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremaeinghe’s revelation, made to the ‘Australian’ newspaper, “that the Australian Government had kept silent on the human rights abuses of the brutal regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa in order to get his co-operation to stop asylum-seekers fleeing to Australia.”
Not once hesitating to expose even the Sirisena government,Trevor Grant wrote Sirisena was an “offshoot” of Mahinda Rajapaksa. His assessment of Sirisena written in January of 2016 can’t be further from the truth, a little more than a year on today as the 34th sessions of the UN Human Rights Council is taking place right at this moment:
The law is our common heritage that came to us through the travails of history. Marquis de Favras was sentenced to death in the wake of the French Revolution to appease the mob clamouring for aristocratic blood. The Committee of Inquiry disregarded the ancient jurisprudence of France drawn from Rome, ‘testis unus, testis nullus’ – one witness is no witness – there must be at least two.
by Rajan Hoole-
( March 13, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) For many decades now, the expression, rule of law, has tended to be associated with pathological extremes involving murder and torture. We have tended to blindly accept repressive laws as a guarantee of our security and complained little when their use was extended to become part of our daily life, like occupation of lands for supposed security purposes. The great danger is that we become desensitised and cease from any obligation to observe the law.
The law is our common heritage that came to us through the travails of history. Marquis de Favras was sentenced to death in the wake of the French Revolution to appease the mob clamouring for aristocratic blood. The Committee of Inquiry disregarded the ancient jurisprudence of France drawn from Rome, ‘testis unus, testis nullus’ – one witness is no witness – there must be at least two. The historian John Adolphus has this to say about the social consequences of tampering with the law for narrow ends:
“This murder performed under colour of law, but in contempt of all sound rules of jurisprudence and reason, first opened the way for those neglects of the established norms of inculpation and evidence, which facilitated the mock trial of the King, and subjected the country to all the horrors of the revolutionary tribunal.”
The Revolutionary Tribunal’s judicial murder of Louis XVI again disregarded the Roman jurisprudence of France. His counsel Raymond de Seze had thundered: “Nullumcrimen sine lege” – there was no crime when there was no law against the King’s rule.
That was one of the earliest statements prohibiting retroactive application of laws. It was adopted into our 1978 Constitution, but was disregarded in the Prevention of Terrorism Act. That Act and its application did immense damage to our legal sensibilities, and accelerated institutional decay. The decay becomes particularly serious when it comes to the administration of our higher education by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
We rely on the UGC to strive for high standards in our universities and ensure that this country sustains and enhances a healthy intellectual tradition. We seem to be doing the opposite.
I submit that our relationship to the law is animportant marker of our intellectual integrity. To a large extent it is the urge to be right and fair that makes us thinking beings. When we lose that obligation we become dullards. Almost always, common sense and fairness constitute an adequate guide to the law.
A leading scholar from the Biomedical Genetics Section of Boston University posted his application in Boston for the Vice Chancellorship in Jaffna on 27th December 2016, allowing ample time before the closing date of 16th January. It arrived a day or two late in Jaffna. From a common sense standpoint the issue was clear. The university had appointed a search committee to search far and wide for suitable candidates; it found none. Then why make an issue of a scholar of marked achievements who applied in good faith and in good time? All applications were opened only on 27th January by the evaluation committee which duly scheduled the scholar’s application along with those of five other internal deans.
At the Council meeting the next day, the Vice Chancellor, apart from the slightly delayed receipt, gave two other irrelevant and inapplicable reasons for dropping the scholar. One was that he had not indicated his citizenship, and, the other, that he had not applied through the head of his department. The Council decided to consult the UGC’s legal department. The UGC’s advice received about two weeks later without giving any argument, or legal reference, was that the university is not bound to accept applications after the closing date.
Even if this reasoning were correct, the law does not stop there. The law is contingency-based and intrinsically considerate. It employs the concept of reasonableness, by which the applicant who has acted reasonably has legitimate expectations of being processed duly. A rule established in R v London County Council ex parte Corrie (1913) as applicable to this case is the applicant’s right to appeal against the rejection of his application; while the University had a duty ‘merely to exercise discretion in each case,and not to shut the door indiscriminately either on all applicants or on applicants who did not conform to some particular requirement [as a deadline that was not crucial – the applications were opened eleven days later].’
However, the unshakable answer to the dilemma lay in the sufficiently well-known Postal Rule, which the University and UGC tried to pretend did not exist. It was simply what reason and common-sense dictated. A healthy intellectual tradition would have railed at the crass treatment the scholar got.
The Postal Rule was established with reference to Contract Law in the British cases of Adams vsLindsell (1818) and Henthornvs Fraser (1892), and closer home in the Indian case of KamisettiSubbiah v Katha Venkataswamy (1903): “… acceptance [of a contract] is complete when it is put in the course of transmission. The place of posting has been held to be the place of completion of contract.” The unanimous judgment of the five member bench of our Supreme Court presided over by Justice Basnayake explicitly extended its scope to a more general context: “Where a letter, fully and particularly directed to a person at his usual place of residence, is proved to have been put into the post office, this is equivalent to proof of delivery into the hands of that person; because it is a safe and reasonable presumption that it reached its destination (University of Ceylon v Fernando [1957] 59 NLR 8).” This rule meant that the applicant had delivered his application on 27th December 2016.
Here was an offer from a scholar of proven ability that would have enhanced the academic resources of the University. The University’s and the UGC’s attitude to him was entirely negative. The President’s commitment regularly made to welcome back skilled expatriates, demands courtesy and a willingness to engage and secure the applicant’s skills even if not as vice chancellor. Instead we were attempting to knock him off with invalid legal reasons hoping that he would simply disappear.
On 25th February, the VC stood by the rejection of the application. Giving a variety of legal reasons, including the Postal Rule, Prof. Tharmaratnam expounded to the Council why the rejection of the application is a violation of the law.
The VC backed up the UGC’s negative advice by citing universities’ Establishments (E-) Code, which states that ‘Applications … should have been received not later than the last date and time stipulated in the advertisement’. She claimed that the E-Code was an authority superior to the Supreme Court. Tharmaratnam replied pointing to the absurdity of this position; the e-Code drafted in 1984,which remains largely unrevised all this time, is only meant to be a guideline. He said besides that the UGC’s advice, without giving any argument or legal reference does not constitute legal advice at all – it is just one line dogma.
Given the scholarly context of the question at hand, our intellectual curiosity and reason should have been stirred to find a solution appropriate to a university. However, the internal council members (deans etc.) had little to say and did not stand up to the VC. One external council member later told Prof. Tharmaratnam, ‘I agree with you one hundred percent, but the UGC appointed us and we must do what it tells us.’ It is the general trend in our universities that where political or personal favour determine the standing of both internal (academic) and external council members, they are eager to satisfy their patrons than protect the academic standing of their institution. It gives an idea of how our higher education system hugs mediocrity and keeps its doors shut to protect persons who detest ability.
Although the election was held on 26th February, three external members, Tharmaratnam, Jeyakumaran and Nesiah, reserved their right to pursue the matter legally and in the first instance to seek the Attorney General’s opinion on Prof. Tharmaratnam’s argument, on the understanding that, if he agrees with it, the Council would cancel the election.
The event, though, not newsworthy in the usual sense, is a lesson on how our legal and intellectual sensibilities are dulled by demands of repressive laws adopted in the name of security to our great hurt. We must not lose faith that the law, in spirit, works towards greater fairness and aspires to become more human and accessible. It is the property of all mankind.
(Lanka-e-News - 13.March.2017, 11.30PM) The views expressed by incumbent president Maithripala Sirisena more often than not which discourage the investigations into the crimes committed in the past against the media personnel and Institutions of Sri Lanka , at a time when the investigations are being intensified with a view to meting out justice and punishing the culprits , is being frowned upon , and most resented by the Media organizations which are unrelentingly standing by the rights and freedom of the media . They are therefore vehemently insisting on punishment being duly and swiftly meted out to the criminals.
In much the same way as the president , several bigwigs too have echoed similar views to the detriment of Democracy and the country as a whole, which in fact run counter to the pledges and solemn promises made by the president at the last elections.
An announcement made by the president recently at the Palaly headquarters of the forces , is yet another in the series of obnoxious and odious views expressed by the president , according to the Free Media movement , an organization espousing the cause of media freedom.
The president while mentioning accusations are being leveled locally and internationally against certain actions of the security divisions of this country, said ,those are all cheap charges mounted by the NGO’s , and he would most responsibly and surely safeguard the members of all the forces – Army ,Navy, Air Force and the police.
The president being the commander in chief of the forces making such a statement may be passed over as ordinary , but his making such announcements repeatedly merits serious attention and is a matter for grave concern in the context of the prevailing situation in the country .
It is a well and widely known fact , in connection with a number of crimes committed against media Institutions and personnel , some names of members of the security forces are directly implicated. Sadly,all the investigations into these crimes are at present stuck at one point. Therefore the clamor to mete out justice and punish the criminals cannot be dismissed as a cheap demand of the NGO’s . This is an urgent and justifiable demand of the society as a whole.
By making such statements blaming on the NGO’s by the president , and taking measures in conformity thereof from time to time ,it is the investigations conducted legally with assiduous ardor by the conscientious investigators which are stuck at one place even now , that get further disrupted and derailed. Besides, the faith and confidence reposed by the public in the law enforcement duly in the country will be eroded .
In the circumstances ,the Free media movement is thoroughly disillusioned and disappointed with the statements made and views expressed by the president . The Movement therefore urges that the investigations be expedited , and justice meted out to all media Institutions and media personnel who fell victims to the criminalities and atrocities of every culprit .
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2017-03-14 In many countries, people today celebrate, ‘Your Freedom Day’ focusing on what freedom means to us with the thrust being to draw international attention to at least 30 million people caught in modern human slavery. The event comes at a time when, according to the United Nations, the world is facing its worst humanitarian crisis with tens of millions of people facing starvation and famine in Africa. The worst affected are in South Sudan and Yemen where bloody conflicts are adding to the catastrophe. Making matters worse, United States President Donald Trump -- widely seen as a reckless and arrogant right-wing extremist -- is threatening to cut foreign aid by about 50%. Known to be caught up in modern human slavery are millions of children forced into slave labour. Because of poverty their parents or guardians often have no option but to allow this. As a result, the children get little healthcare and less education, meaning that their future is ruined. In African and other poor countries recent reports allege that some organisations are setting up orphanages mainly to get huge amounts in foreign aid. But the children are alleged to be ill-treated or sometimes even sexually abused. Leading the ‘Your Freedom Day’ campaign are some international high school groups which are calling on people to check on products that they regularly use, find out how they are produced, and if there are reports of child slaves having been used, the people should boycott the products. A world inter-religious movement convened by Pope Francis is also closely involved in the campaign against modern human slavery. We hope that in all countries religious leaders will join forces and call upon the people to act effectively and urgently against modern human slavery affecting children, young girls and women. In many countries girls or women are drawn into sex slavery through sophisticated means. One woman reported how she responded to an online ad calling for public relations officers in a foreign country with a high salary and other perks. When she went there, she found that she was caught up in a sex-slave racket. Such is the plight of millions of women and girls whose lives and reputations are ruined. If only divine power can save them, then religious leaders need to lead the people out of their comfort zones, to leave their religious boats on familiar shores and plunge into the deep to restore the lives of modern human slaves. In Sri Lanka, investigative journalists – unfortunately there are just a few left today -- have revealed few if any major cases of child abuse or enforced sex slavery of girls and women. Yet, on a smaller scale, it is known there are hundreds of households, mainly the richer ones in urban areas, which employ child domestic aides without giving the essential right to education. On a bigger scale, we have the crisis where about one and a half million Sri Lankan girls and women are known to be working in Middle-Eastern countries, most of them are domestic aides, some are reported to be physically abused and forced to work about 14 hours a day while others are sexually abused. Sri Lanka can never forget and must never forget the tragedy where Rizana Nafeek was executed on the dubious charge of being responsible for the death of a child. This crisis is a shame and a scandal. In the short-term, the National Government needs to take more effective measures to protect these innocent workers. One such move could be the appointment of more women diplomats to Middle-Eastern capitals so that they could give personal care to the girls and women. In the long-term, through the setting up of high-tech manufacturing companies in rural areas, increasing and diversifying our export markets, we could reduce the number going overseas for jobs. If we are concerned only about ourselves and just read or hear reports about the large scale abuse of children, girls and women, then we are self-centred or enslaved to ourselves and the freedom we talk about may have to be put into the category of Donald Trump’s fake news.
COLOMBO : A bill to ban the pernicious practice of bottom trawling, which will affect thousands of Sri Lankans and Indians fishing in the sea between Sri Lanka and India, is to be passed by the Sri Lankan parliament by March end, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, M.A.Sumanthiran, told Express on Monday.
“My private members bill has been converted into a government bill, and has been gazetted. It will now be bought to parliament on March 17 and passed later this month,” Sumanthiran said.
“Out of the nine provinces to which the bill was sent for comments, only the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) sought an amendment saying that time will be given to bottom trawler operators to switch over to another form of fishing and dispose off their boats. But the NPC’s call for an amendment will not stop the planned legislative process because fisheries is not a devolved subject in the constitution. Moreover, eight out of the nine provinces had accepted the bill in toto,” the Tamil MP said.
Sumanthiran, who represents the Northern district of Jaffna, had introduced the bill in April 2015 as he found that Sri Lanka could not morally and legitimately stop bottom trawling by Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan waters citing environmental damage, if Sri Lanka itself allows bottom trawling by its fishermen. He had found that there were over 500 Sri Lankan bottom trawlers, many of them being in the Tamil-majority Northern Province owned by Tamils.
Sumanthiran’s bill had been in cold storage since April 2015, as government was otherwise preoccupied with weightier matters and also because of the powerful bottom trawlers’ lobby. Moreover the government had given the Chinese, permission to bottom trawl in Sri Lankan waters under a five year license.
But bringing the bill back to parliament became a need of the hour when trawlers from Tamil Nadu in India continued to come close to the Sri Lankan shore in the Palk Strait in their hundreds every day despite the impounding of their vessels if arrested. The bill will be passed as there is consensus among the Sri Lankan political parties on it. Moreover, fishermen from the majority Sinhalese community in South Sri Lanka do not bottom trawl in shallow waters but go for deep sea fishing, unlike the Tamil fishermen of the North, who are still coastal fishermen.
But the issue has touched off a political controversy in the North.
M.K.Shivajilingam, a member of the Northern Provincial Council who spoke for the Northern Tamil trawler owners in the council, denied that he was an agent of the trawler owners who are basically businessmen, not fishermen, as such. He contended that both Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen should be given time to switchover to be realistic.
“The government should consult scientific organisations and device fishing methods which will not hurt the fishermen, before imposing a blanket ban on bottom trawling,” he told Express. He also contended that many nations have not banned it and therefore it is not necessary for Sri Lanka to ban it.
The Island exclusively reported last week that the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) had, in a letter to President Maithripala Sirisena dated 23 February 2017, disowned the recommendation it made earlier that Ramanathan Kannan be appointed a High Court Judge. In that letter, the JSC stated that if the BASL had made ‘no proper recommendation’ that Kannan be appointed a High Court judge, the recommendation that the JSC had sent earlier to the President had ‘no force or avail in law’.
This retraction by the JSC made Ramanathan Kannan’s appointment as High Court Judge unconstitutional as Article 111(2) (a) of the Constitution stipulates that judges of the High Court can be appointed by the president only on the recommendation of the Judicial Services Commission.
However, in their letter of 23 February 2017, the JSC has not expressly recommended that Kannan be removed from office.
The Secretary to the President, P. B. Abeykoon has written to the Secretary of the Judicial Services Commission on 8 March 2017 seeking recommendation for the removal of Mr Kannan in terms of Article 111(2) (b) of the Constitution, which provides for the dismissal of High Court judges by the President on the recommendations of the JSC.
When the fundamental rights petition filed by former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was taken up by the Supreme Court today, the Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kotagoda said investigations were continuing.
He said if there was evidence of a cognizable offence the mandatory requirement was to arrest the offender.
The ASG appearing for the respondents and the Attorney General told Court that the interim order preventing the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) from arresting him granted on May 13, 2015 was still in operation and asked Court to fix an early date to argue the rights application.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice Priyasath Dep and Justice Anil Gooneratne fixed the matter for argument on June 15.
The Court had on October 3 last year fixed for yesterday the hearing of the rights petition filed by Mr. Rajapaksa fearing imminent arrest and detention by the FCID. (S.S. Selvanayagam)
Issuing a statement Friday Forum has questioned the delay in investigations and taking legal action on prominent cases like murder of the young rugby player Thajudeen, the murder and the disappearance of several journalists and some politicians, criminal abuse of power to amass enormous wealth with no credible source of income or legal transfer of property to account for them, and corrupt and irresponsible conduct of persons holding public office.
It further says that “upholding the rule of law, and taking action against those who have violated the law was a principal undertaking given to the citizens when the President and many in the present Government sought our votes and were elected to public office. Let them not betray the trust placed in their commitment to good governance and Yahapalanaya. The President and Prime Minister in particular, have an important responsibility for leadership in this regard. Problems in governance do not justify inaction, fault finding and retracting promises made to the people to give leadership in good governance.”
Full text of the statement follows:
In November 2016, Friday Forum issued a statement (Ruler’s Laws and the Rule of Law) deploring the growing denial of the rule of law in the decade ending in 2014. Friday Forum requested the Government to speedily work on many fronts to restore the supremacy of the law in relations between Government and persons, and among persons themselves, including legal entities.
Where is justice for Thajudeen?
Developments since then impel Friday Forum now to deplore the failures of the present Government to uphold the rule of law by bringing before courts persons alleged to have broken the law. Initial steps taken by the Government in this direction with regard to some allegations held out hope that the processes for seeking justice would gather some momentum.
These inquiries include those relating to the murder of the young rugby player Thajudeen, the murder and the disappearance of several journalists and some politicians, criminal abuse of power to amass enormous wealth with no credible source of income or legal transfer of property to account for them, and corrupt and irresponsible conduct of persons holding public office.
We fail to understand why, where there is ample evidence that politicians had committed offences for which other citizens are routinely prosecuted, remanded, denied bail and/or permission to leave the country, are treated by the law entirely differently. The President’s recent public statements on the appointment of a High Court Judge has created further confusion in the public mind on the functioning of the legal system. Is it acceptable to disregard obligations under the Constitution in regard to appointments to the judiciary and then seek to make others accountable for interference in the process?
Why the justice system is so ineffective?
This country prides itself in the possession of a system and institutions that can bring perpetrators of grave crimes to justice. We as citizens rightfully expect that investigations would be conducted and judicial proceedings completed without inordinate delay. Close to 24 months is not too short a period in which to have taken measures to drive some vigour and dynamism into these procedures and re-establish the supremacy of the law in our society. The Government has an obligation to explain why the justice system is so ineffective.
Friday Forum also observes with deep concern the serious deterioration in standards of conduct of holders of public office. Despite the recent Report of the Committee on Public Enterprises providing detailed information on the bonds scam and the even more recent incident of the Head of Police, in a telephone call overheard by many over a microphone, reportedly assuring his Minister that a relative of his would not be arrested, those accused of these violations have yet to be held accountable.
State accounting procedure requires that all Government revenue from whatever source be credited to the Consolidated Fund. We note that blatant violation of this procedure when the sale proceeds of billions of rupees from the disposal of the State-owned land occupied by the military in Colombo Fort to foreign companies was credited to an account controlled by selected members of the armed services and Defence Ministry. To date there have been no prosecutions of those responsible. No action has been taken by the Government in respect of these violations.
Non-release of the Welikada prison massacre report
The public is also aware of the horrendous tragedy that took place in November 2012 in Welikada prison, where 27 inmates of the prison were killed. The Government, as custodians of these prisoners, was responsible for their personal security within the prison. Several Committees of Inquiry have reported on what are alleged to have been acts of violence against prisoners but none of these reports have been made available to the public, vitiating the entire purpose of spending substantial amounts of tax payer’s money on the inquiries.
There was renewed hope of a search for justice when this Government, after assuming office, appointed another Committee of Inquiry which duly submitted its report. The Government to date, has neither made this report available to the public, nor taken any visible steps to refer these reports to the relevant authorities, so that action is taken against those alleged to be responsible for these deaths. This inaction brings indelible shame on any civilised society.
The Friday Forum raised the issue of the right of the public to access this report. We even received a copy of a letter from the Prime Minister’s office addressed to the Minister of Justice, requesting a copy of the report to be issued to us. Meanwhile newspapers publish what they say are contents of this important report. To date the report has not been released as a public document. Friday Forum requests the Government to officially publish the report, without delay, making it accessible to the public. Persons alleged to be implicated in this horrendous episode, must be referred to the authorities for prosecution of any acts of violence.
Upholding the rule of law, and taking action against those who have violated the law was a principal undertaking given to the citizens when the President and many in the present Government sought our votes and were elected to public office. Let them not betray the trust placed in their commitment to good governance and Yahapalanaya. The President and Prime Minister in particular, have an important responsibility for leadership in this regard. Problems in governance do not justify inaction, fault finding and retracting promises made to the people to give leadership in good governance.
Dr. G. Usvatte-aratchi, Dr. A.C. Visvalingam, Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare, Professor Savitri Goonesekere, Bishop Duleep de Chickera, Rev. Dr. Jayasiri Peiris, S.C.C. Elankovan, Prof. Camena Guneratne, Dr. Upatissa Pethiyagoda, Shanthi Dias, Faiz-ur Rahman, Ahilan Kadirgamar, Professor Gananath Obeyesekere, Prashan de Visser, Chandra Jayaratne
(The Friday Forum is an informal group of concerned citizens pledged to uphold norms of democracy, good governance, rule of law, human rights, media freedom and tolerance in our pluralist society.)
The Muslim Personal Law Reforms Action Group (MPLRAG) has spelt out four guiding principles for the state to ensure when carrying out the reforms for the Sri Lankan Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) of 1951, while reiterating the State’s responsibility to ensure ‘equality, justice and non-discrimination.’
The guiding principles for the reforms covered; the State’s responsibility to ensure Equality, Justice and Non‐Discrimination; Women as key stakeholders in reform, Respect for the heterogeneous character of Muslim community and diversity of opinion; and Recognition of the dynamism of Islamic Jurisprudence.
In a statement issued today, the group said that the Sri Lankan state has a role and the responsibility to ensure all its citizens are treated equally and without discrimination. “Equality before the law and equal treatment under the law is a fundamental right. The MMDA and the Quazi court system is a special law and cannot be utilized to deny any Muslim citizen of Sri Lanka his/her fundamental rights and protections under the Constitution. If this is permitted some Muslim citizens will effectively be rendered second-class citizens,” the statement said.
The MPLRAG pointed out that the Muslim women have been the most affected by the MMDA and Quazi court system and the mandate for reform is principally derived from their call for changes to MMDA. “Therefore women’s experiences of the law and its implementation procedure and their just expectations must inform and shape the reform agenda. In the current reform initiatives which are underway, Muslim women must have a place at the table. Their voices and demands should be heard and engaged with as the key constituency that is most affected,” the statement said.
(Lanka-e-News - 14.March.2017, 2.10AM) Believe it or not ! During the period between 22 nd July and 24 th November 2016, massive quantities of cocaine valued at many millions of rupees were smuggled into Sri Lanka on three occasions along with sugar imports from Brazil . But what ‘s even more incredible than all that is , the mastermind behind this massive illicit operation has been allowed to give the slip based on a plan of the IGP Poojitha Jayasundara and DIG Kamal Silva in charge of the anti Narcotics division , whereby the suspect has escaped arrest , based on reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division.
Between 14 th June and 9 th December 2016 , huge quantities of cocaine were seized in SL on five occasions.
85 kilos of cocaine were seized by the STF from sugar containers on 14 th June 301 kilos of cocaine by the anti narcotics division from sugar containers on 22 nd July 32 kilos cocaine were seized by the Anti narcotics division from sugar containers , Petiyagoda on the 10th 200 kilos cocaine were seized from sugar containers , Orugodawatte by Anti Narcotics division on the 24 th 800 kilos cocaine were seized from a container of teak by the Anti narcotics division on the 9 th.
The Anti narcotics division has made three detections while the police STF has made one .
When the honest officers of the anti narcotics division were duly conducting investigations in respect of the three detections made by them their suspicions were primarily triggered based on several issues : While the first detection was made on 22 nd July , why were cocaine along with sugar smuggled in until 24 th November? Though there isn’t much market for cocaine in SL ,then why were such large quantities of that contraband dispatched to SL ? The clear reasonable inference is, there were individuals in SL earnestly anticipating this huge illicit cargo .
While the investigations were under way , based on a phone call , the eagle eyed police officers have turned their attention towards a particular individual. He is a Muslim businessman from Dehiwala who is related to a high rung police officer, and finally it is IGP Poojith Jayasundara and Anti Narcotics division chief Kamal Silva who have arranged for the escape of the suspect from the arms of the law .
Fortunately , Lanka e news is in possession of copious information in this connection , and we are in the process of sifting and sorting the information to ascertain the facts ,and getting them confirmed again. Therefore if anybody tries to suppress the truth, that will be to his/her disadvantage because we shall not hesitate to expose every detail including name and address of such rascals irrespective of their status and ranks , because that exposure is in the best interests of the police force and the country
How anti narcotics chief Kamal and IGP Poojitha are linked to heroin …
Kamal and Poojitha are officers who were having underhand dealings with heroin barons for a long time. Poojitha was an officer who at the behest of heroin peddlers arranged for the murder of IP Douglas Nimal , an officer under him , and his wife. ( details of these crimes shall be revealed via a subsequent report)
In any case , one piece of information pertaining to the links Kamal Silva has with the heroin dealers shall be revealed for the moment …
Can a police officer build a four story building out of his legitimate income ?
Kamal Silva inaugurated a four storey hotel at Elakande on the sly on the 11 th. Lawyer Ajith Rohana a police media spokesman better known as ‘Peththappuwa’ alone secretly attended this event. The perplexing and pertinent question is , how could Kamal Silva receiving a monthly salary from the government could construct such a massive hotel ? The supervisor of this Hotel which was constructed on illicit earnings collected from heroin dealers is also another officer of the Anti Narcotics division. He is SI Mahinda ,a shameless low bred stooge of Kamal Silva. The latter has purchased a land in the vicinity of the hotel and built a house for Mahinda to look after the affairs of Kamal Silva’s hotel.
Sordid activities of SL’s Anti narcotics chiefs ….
While Kamal Silva was the director of the Anti Narcotics division , he was promoted as DIG. According to a circular of the police department , the officer , after he is promoted shall be transferred to another division. That rule however was not applied to Kamal Silva because of Poojitha Jayasundara for obvious reasons- because of the colossal filthy lucre that were being collected from the heroin magnates under the counter.
The worst part of the evil manipulation of Kamal Silva and Poojitha was , though a Director must be appointed in place of Kamal Silva following his promotion , both Kamal Silva and Poojitha have got together and seen to it a director is not appointed. Only a temporary acting director was appointed . Hence Kamal Silva even after becoming the DIG has continued discharging the duties of Director Anti Narcotics Bureau too. That is he has functioned both as Director and DIG .One can make one’s own conclusions why this arrangement was made.
Poojitha too was a DIG in charge of the Anti Narcotics Bureau some time ago. At that time he openly declared Kamal Silva was corrupt , and should be evicted from his post. Strangely , after Poojitha became the IGP , both of them who knew the taste of filthy lucre got pasted together like bread and butter . The old accusations therefore evaporated into thin air.
It is a pity , the minister in charge of the police is in the dark about these ‘police sellamas’ (police tricks and treacheries). It is well known the minster Is preoccupied with other ‘sellams’ (other games) .The secretary of the ministry is well noted as an individual who is only accustomed to remaining deaf and blind while on duty even in the full glare of corruption. He is such a ‘meek Ass ’ that when he was the Director of Customs , he allowed a container to be released sans inspection simply because Namal Rajapakse the notorious crook gave him a telephone call.
Such an officer performing duties as the ministry secretary coupled with the inability to search for the Police Commission even by the god of light foretellers had created the best environment most conducive to Poojitha and Kamal , the two unscrupulous police officers well entrenched and well seasoned in infinite corruption not only to have their say but even their way without any hindrance when engaging in their long term rackets to the detriment of the Police force and the country as a whole.
Though these two uniformed villains got together and let go the mastermind behind this colossal cocaine smuggling operation via sugar containers, might we warn , this mastermind escaping from the Eagle eyes of our inside information division is not easy. Even the high ranking police officer who is a relative of the mastermind is under our surveillance. The dual citizen who did the re export of cocaine too is being watched by us. We shall in the future expose all the sordid details to the masses.
By Lanka e news inside information service division Board Reporter
--------------------------- by (2017-03-13 20:54:00)
2017-03-13 The meeting that was attended by the Finance Minister where Central Bank Chief Executive Officers and primary dealers also asked to be present, three weeks after I received a phone call from Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran to accept a bid for Rs. 10 billion was an abnormal occurrence, said Superintendent of the Public Debt Department of the Central Bank Ms. U.L Muthugala, giving evidence before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate the Issuance of Central Bank Treasury Bonds. When Mr. Mahendran informed me over the phone to accept the Rs.10 billion bid, I was compelled to follow his instructions, Ms. Muthugala said. Replying to a question posed by the Commission Judge Prasanna Jayawardena she said during her long service at the Public Debt Department no former governor had visited her section and spoken to officials while they were doing their duty. The acceptance of the Rs.10 billion bid also led to a turbulence in the money market, she said. Evidence was led before the Commission comprising Supreme Court Judges K.T. Chitrasiri, Prasanna Jayawardena and former Auditor General Velupille Kandasamy. The Presidential Commission of inquiry was appointed to investigate the issuance of treasury bonds during the period from February 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016. The evidence was led by the Additional Solicitor General appearing for the affairs of the Commission PC Dappula De Livera.(Manopriya Gunasekera)
