EU net migration to UK falls amid Brexit

Helia Ebrahimi-30 Nov 2018Economics Correspondent

The number of people arriving from EU countries has dropped over the last year, according to figures out today.

#MeToo has been misrepresented as plot against men, says founder

Campaign to support survivors of sexual violence is unrecognisable, says Tarana Burke
Tarana Burke, the creator of the #MeToo hashtag, speaks at a rally in Hollywood. Photograph: Chelsea Guglielmino/FilmMagic

Patrick Greenfield @pgreenfielduk Email-Fri 30 Nov 2018 13.57 GMT

The founder of the #MeToo movement has said the campaign she started against sexual violence has become unrecognisable and misrepresented as a vindictive plot against men.

Tarana Burke, an American civil rights activist, started the campaign in 2006with the goal of providing support to survivors of sexual violence in her community. Last year the phrase took off globally in the wake of allegations against the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Burke told a TEDWomen event in Palm Springs, California, that parts of the media had framed the movement as a witch-hunt and that US politicians seemed to be “pivoting away from the issue” in the wake of events such as the controversy over Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the supreme court.

“Suddenly, a movement to centre survivors of sexual violence is being talked about as a vindictive plot against men,” she told the audience. “This is a movement about the one in four girls and the one in six boys who are sexually abused every year, and who carry those wounds into adulthood,” she said. “Victims are heard and then vilified.”

Burke said she wanted the movement to return to the issues she set out to challenge over a decade ago.

“My vision for the #MeToo movement is part of a collective vision to see a world free of sexual violence,” she said. “I believe we can build that world. Full stop.”

“We owe future generations nothing less than a world free of sexual violence. This accumulation of feelings that so many of us are feeling together across the globe is collective trauma.”

Burke said she felt the campaign was neglecting victims of sexual violence, adding: “This movement has been called a watershed moment, but some days I wake up feeling that all the evidence points to the contrary.

“We have to re-educate ourselves and our children to understand that power and privilege doesn’t always have to destroy and take. It can be used to serve and build.”

Facebook’s bid to save democracy

One hundred cardboard cutouts of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stand outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC. April 10, 2018. Source: Saul Loeb/AFP

By Asian Correspondent Staff | 28th November 2018 | @ascorrespondent

FACEBOOK has received a lot of flack recently for their involvement in election tampering and dissemination of “fake news” in the lead up to polling days across the world. The problem has been pervasive and universal with no country immune to the power of social media and propaganda.

The social media giant’s vice-president of policy solutions, Richard Allen, was in London on Tuesday to answer questions from international delegates on the Facebook’s plans to tackle the dangerous trend and improve its assessment of incendiary or false posts.

According to Channel News Asia, Allen told members of the Singapore parliament that Facebook now sets up a “War Room” to monitor every “significant election”. These are task forces made up of specialists skilled in monitoring the risks of each individual election and deploying solutions to ensure minimal adverse impact on the vote.

SEE ALSO: What does Facebook say about losing the hate speech fight in Burma?

When asked if this would be deployed for all elections, globally, Allen said: “In an ideal world, it’s every election, everywhere, all of the time. Our current resourcing I think allows us to look at all national elections.”

“We are looking at every election whether the country is big or small, at a national level. And then the question is can we expand that also into regional and local elections.”

The company used the same method for the US midterms and the Brazil general elections in October, but have since closed the operation, claiming it was never designed to be permanent.

A still image taken from video footage broadcast by the UK Parliament’s Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) on November 27, 2018 shows Richard Allan, Vice President of Policy Solutions, Facebook, giving evidence before an ‘International Grand Committee.’ Source: Ho/AFP/PRU

Facebook is currently embroiled in an ongoing stream of controversy surrounding not just the use of its platforms to sway elections, but also its handling of user data and ill-advised campaigns against critics like billionaire philanthropist and Holocaust survivor George Soros.

While the War Room earned it some favourable coverage when it was launched in October, analysts have questioned its efficacy after a “tsunami” of fake news plagued the Brazil elections.

A recent report in Rolling Stone highlighted a growing perception that Facebook’s efforts have been arbitrary responses to outside political pressure.

SEE ALSO: Why Facebook’s business model is incompatible with human rights

Despite their physical War Room being disbanded in the United States, Allen reassured the international hearing that due diligence and similar tactics would be deployed globally. But warned they couldn’t do it alone.

“The people who decide if an election is free and fair is you, and your authorities, and the political parties,” Allan told Singapore MP Pritam Singh. “We want to do whatever is necessary in order for everyone to have the confidence that the election is free and fair – and we can’t do that on our own.

“We can make tools, we can work with you, but ultimately we need to engage with you in order to meet that shared objective that we contribute to positively rather than negatively to the election in your country.”

Tyranny against Humanity: Human Rights and Global Politics

The Humanity and Nature are interconnected. To know the Nature of things is to know oneself. The global understanding of human rights violation appears detached from the media sensational coverage and inner thoughts of human minds seen on the screen.

by Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD.- Nov 27, 2018

( November 27, 2018, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The tyranny of human rights violations – planned and alleged goes unabated across the globe. Late American historian Howard Zinn must have sensed the human cries against the Nature and called “Tyranny is tyranny.” Nobody seems to care for the dried-ink paper written words and meanings of the UNO human rights declarations or respect for human dignity in crisis and conflicts.

“Hell on Earth”, called the UN Secretary General seeing the insanity of bombings on 400,000 civilians entrapped at Eastern Ghouta (Syria) several months earlier. Millions perished while the UN Security Council debated the chemical attacks on the innocent civilians across many war zones. Thousands and thousands of innocent victims of the wars and ethnic cleansing are fleeing from imminent death and destruction to relatively peaceful West European countries. For decades, hopes of peace have been dashed away by death and despair across the Middle East. The international institutionalized systems of governance were supposed to protect the innocent victims from the scourge of wars and provide protection to civilians in conflict zones. Not so, the UN has become a voice of spectators mainly occupied with public debates and services not conflict management and peacemaking but settling displaced people in camps to be operated by the NGO’s.

A new outlook of dysfunctional global systems of governance. In a sense, global institutions are failing to respond to the humanitarian crises or to prioritize conflict prevention or peacemaking. The abstract words of Magna Carta, The UNO Charter, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other wishful ideals of the universal protection of human rights – all appear blindfolded to the pains and sufferings of the forcibly displaced people across Syria, Iraq, China, Afghanistan, Yemen, Palestine and many other lands. The global human moral values are at crossroads without questioning the insane political behavior towards the refugees camping on divided national borders in many European countries. Recently, Angela Merkel and Immanuel Macron on the First World War ceremonies reminded the EU nations, how catastrophic was the nationalism that instigated the Two WW. European history tells that the doctrine of nationalism repudiates the notion that human life and well being is sacred. The UN Charter was the embodiment of guaranteed security to protect the rights of the people from the “scourge of war.”

Human Rights Violations and the Raging Wild Fires

The Humanity and Nature are interconnected. To know the Nature of things is to know oneself. The global understanding of human rights violation appears detached from the media sensational coverage and inner thoughts of human minds seen on the screen. The truth and facts of life often presented as fantasy because they could unfold human cruelty against the ruling elite. But the real experience if shared by first hand-observers could send an electric jolt to a living human consciousness.

Laws are supposedly known, self-defining, unambiguous and clear statements for tangible actions. Otherwise, there cannot be a dictum of law and order. Or is it a presumptuous elucidation of lost human history that consumed millions and millions during the 2WW? Time is living, not dead and we must learn to defy the failed human logic of wars for peace. Do the UN laws really protect the human rights in real world crises? With an inquiring inner eye of the human spirit common across all societies, the UNO has no power or logical force to use and hold the aggressors accountable for the crimes. It is an impregnable truth shared by all knowledge-based scholars. Over the decades with political obsessions and inacceptable realm of reason, the powerful states continue to victimize the political opponents or those who have varied identities of ethnicity, belief, language and racial outlook. As an integral part of human civilizations, we are at great loss to be disconnected with the norms of respect and honor for equal rights and dignity. Recently, the raging wild fires in California attracted immediate attention because of uncontrolled sensation and the nature of human property losses caused by the wild fires. All concerned appeared at edge –day and night to control or extinguish the wild fires and to safeguard the affected masses. The consequences of the wild fire are imagined with intensity and utmost care. Have you ever seen a similar approach given to the planned and deliberate violation of human rights and killings of the innocent civilians caught in bombings and chemical warfare in the Middle East or elsewhere? Is it a question of thought or strategic priority or urgency to do the best in unusual situations of conflicts? Are we just becoming a non-living statistic in the record of causalities?

Tragic Tensions of Time and History bring Rohinga and Uyghur Victims under Global Focus

“The Syrian government has routinely used banned cluster munitions and barrel bombs across Syria to inflict terrible harm and suffering on civilians. Now, they have started duplicating these horrific tactics in Idlib and we don’t have any reason to believe that they will stop.” Amnesty International, 9/14/2018.

Tyranny of human rights violation and forcible displacement of civilians is fast spreading across the globe. Corresponding tragedies experienced by the people – the human body and souls are crushed by deliberate violence, massacres, rapes and forcible eviction in Myanmar (Burma), China, Syria and other critical situations. All authoritarian leaders enjoin an erotic ambition to rule and remain in power even if they have to dehumanize all the population. The resulting degeneration and destructiveness goes on for decades. This aggressive instinct should have been challenged and stopped even by force if not by reason by other affluent global leaders and members of the UNSC. Alas, their psychological conscience feels no sense of guilt for the on-going crimes against the humanity. Time and history are not on the side of tyrant egoistic rulers –soon they will be floating like scum on the torrent of time.

We must remain connected and vigilant to our obligation to protect the human rights and give life to history. Dr. Fozia Alvi, a physician of Pakistani origin working at University of Calgary (Canada), did just that to help the Rohinga refugees in Bangladesh. Her commitment and dedication saved several hundreds of human life with adequate medical care and humanitarian assistance in the shallowness of man’s cruelty to fellow human beings. Rohinga people are victims of “genocide” described by the UNHR Commission in Geneva. For long, they were targeted victims of ethnic cleansing by the ruling military elite of Burma. Often conflicts bring unity in human diversity. To all civilized people, there is a rational impulse of humanity to help people in pains and anguish of torture and exploitation. In a message, Dr. Alvi along with Yvonne Ridley, a reputable journalist and humanitarian activist from UK (YvonneRidley.org), have joined the collective minds to set-up orphan camps on the border areas of Turkey and Syria. These individuals demonstrate courage and a deep sense of humanity to initiate and organize humanitarian help to the most vulnerable innocent children, men and women in conflict situations – what could not be undertaken by many resourceful organizations and global institutions. The people of Uyghur – a nation in its culture and socio-political identity is under immense tyranny and is being victimized because of their ethnicity, belief and cultural values. The Amnesty International (9/24/2018) reports that:

An estimated up to one million predominantly Muslim people are held in internment camps in Xinjiang in northwest China Families tell Amnesty of their desperation for news on missing loved ones. China must end its campaign of systematic repression and shed light on the fate of up to one million predominantly Muslim people arbitrarily detained in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR)…..The past year has seen an intensifying government campaign of mass internment, intrusive surveillance, political indoctrination and forced cultural assimilation against the region’s Uighurs,

The Need is Urgent for the knowledge-based 21st century humanity to come together and challenge the tyranny and insanity of human rights violation. This challenge must accompany a remedial action – a package of planned accumulated humanitarian assistance to all the refugees, enriched with a sense of moral and intellectual security to protect their rights and to ensure a return to normalcy in human societies.

The voices of reason are loud and clear as One Global Humanity cannot suffer the penalties of tyranny and evil-mongering of the few sadistic warlords. We the people of the world enjoin focused minds and imagination to articulate a new world of One Humanity, brotherhood and peaceful co-existence amongst all, free of hatred, intrigues tyranny, encroachment and animosity.

(Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international relations-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including: Global Peace and Conflict Management: Man and Humanity in Search of New Thinking (Germany, 2012); and Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution: Approaches to Understand the Current Issues and Future-Making. (Lambert Academic Publications, Germany, 10/2017).

WHO says spread of polio remains international health emergency

A boy receives polio vaccine drops, during an anti-polio campaign, in a low-income neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan April 9, 2018. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Kate Kelland-NOVEMBER 30, 2018

The spread of polio must still be classified as a public health emergency because, while progress has been made towards wiping out the disease, that progress is fragile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

“We are so close to the elimination of polio, but we have to use all of our international tools to achieve this end,” Helen Rees, chair of the WHO’s international emergency committee, told reporters on a telephone briefing.

“The ongoing situation continues to require that a public health emergency of international concern should be applied.”

Latest WHO figures show there have been 27 cases of wild polio so far in 2018 - all of them in Pakistan and Afghanistan where the contagious viral disease is endemic.

Rees said the WHO was “very concerned” that this number was higher than last year, and urged governments against complacency in the battle to eradicate the paralysing disease.

“Finishing this job remains an absolute emergency,” she said.

The polio virus, which invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours, spreads rapidly among children, especially in unsanitary conditions in war-torn regions, refugee camps and areas where healthcare is limited.

The disease can be prevented with vaccination, but immunisation coverage rates need to be very high and any gaps allow the virus to fight back.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, launched in 1988, originally aimed to end all transmission of the disease by 2000.

And while there has been a 99 percent reduction in cases worldwide since the GPEI launch, fighting the last 1 percent of polio cases has been far tougher than expected.

Efforts to eradicate the disease in Afghanistan and Pakistan have been undermined by opposition from the Taliban and other Islamist militants, who claim immunisation is a foreign ploy to sterilise Muslim children or a cover for Western spies.

Friday’s statement by WHO polio emergency experts also expressed concern that after a 10-month period of no international spread of wild polio virus between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, the last three months had seen cross-border spread recur in both directions.

The WHO emergency committee noted, however, that it has been four years since there was any international spread of wild polio outside of these two epidemiologically linked countries.

In Afghanistan, the number of polio cases has almost doubled in 2018, with 19 cases reported so far compared to 10 at the same time last year. The WHO said this was “due to worsened security and greater inaccessibility, and persistent pockets of (vaccine) refusals and missed children.”

In Pakistan, it said, the polio situation has stagnated, with eight cases reported so far this year, the same number as was reported for the whole of 2017.

Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by Richard Balmforth

FDA Remove Sufentanil (Dsuvia) as you did Palladone in 2005! It's Dangerous!

Sufentanil should never be administered to any human.

Nov-28-2018 22:35

(MYRTLE BEACH, SC) - In early 2005, I exposed Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, for marketing a dangerous opioid called Palladone.

In July 2005, Palladone was removed from the market following an FDA request because of "safety concerns" An FDA news release stated that "serious and potentially fatal adverse reactions could occur when Palladone (hydromorphone hydrochloride) extended release capsules were taken together with alcohol." (See news release below)

The FDA recently approved yet another dangerous opioid. This one made by AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. called Sufentanil or Dsuvia.

The opioid is to be administered sublingually (faster absorption) and is approximately 5 to 10 times more potent than its parent drug, Fentanyl and 500 times as potent as morphine. It will be administered to pregnant women in labor as well as wounded military in the battlefield with the condition that physicians "closely" monitor patients for respiratory failure.

It will be used in the treatment of ambiguous chronic pain. Sufentanil or Dsuvia should never be administered to any human.

This dangerous opioid is similar to Palladone in that it should never be taken with alcohol or products that have alcohol. Unsafe and deadly effects may happen -- right off AcelRx Pharmaceuticals description of Sufentanil or Dsuvia.

I will be working fiercely, as I did with Palladone to have the FDA withdraw their approval of Sufentanil or Dsuvia immediately before the death toll to yet another dangerous opioid ravages our country further destroying tens of thousands of lives during an opioid epidemic.

Why would the FDA approve an opioid with such dangerous and life threatening risks? Ask Janet Woodcock.

Janet Woodcock, MD is current FDA Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Maybe she can advise under her watch -- during an opioid epidemic in the U.S., why she does not question the dangers of Sufentanil (Dsuvia) being released on the American people -- yet an acting FDA Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in 2005 recognized the dangers of Palladone and had it pulled.

Next week I will be questioning the FDA on using Lynn R. Webster, MD as an "expert" in the approval of Sufentanil (Dsuvia).

Just a word to the FDA -- I did not go away when it came to Palladone being taken off the market and I am certainly not going away when they arbitrarily expose the American people to an opioid that should never be prescribed to any human being and is not only dangerous, but is life-threatening.

Below is the FDA News Release dated July 13, 2005 regarding the recall of Palladone:

FDA NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
P05-42
July 13, 2005
Media Inquiries:
Suzanne Treviño, 301-827-6242
Consumer Inquiries:
888-INFO-FDA

FDA Asks Purdue Pharma to Withdraw Palladone for Safety Reasons

After acquiring new information that serious and potentially fatal adverse reactions can occur when Palladone (hydromorphone hydrochloride) extended release capsules are taken together with alcohol, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked Purdue Pharma L.P., the makers of the drug, to withdraw it from the market.

Palladone is a once-a-day pain management drug containing a very potent narcotic. New data gathered from a company-sponsored study testing the potential effects of alcohol use shows that when Palladone is taken with alcohol the extended release mechanism is harmed which can lead to dose-dumping. 

Dose-dumping is a term that describes the rapid release of the active ingredient from an extended release product into the blood stream. The consequences of dose dumping at the lowest marketed dose (12 mg.) of Palladone could lead to serious, or even fatal, adverse events in some patients and the risk is even greater for the higher strengths of the product. 

As a result of this potential serious safety risk, the FDA has asked Purdue Pharma, and they have agreed, to suspend all sales and marketing of Palladone in the U.S. pending further discussions with the agency.

"All powerful pain management drugs have serious risks if used incorrectly, but the current formulation of Palladone presents an unacceptably high level of patient risk" said Dr. Steven Galson, FDA Acting Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. 

"Although we have not received reports of serious problems, this product has so far been used in a relatively small number of patients. We are concerned that as more patients take this drug, safety problems will arise since even having one alcoholic drink could have fatal implications.”

The current labeling for Palladone, approved in September, 2004, already includes the standard opioid warning against the use of alcohol and Palladone. However, the FDA does not believe that the risk of serious, and potentially fatal, adverse events can be effectively managed by label warnings alone and a risk management plan.

_______________________________________

Marianne Skolek-Perez, Salem-News.com Investigative Reporter, is an Activist for Victims of OxyContin and Purdue Pharma throughout the United States and Canada. In July 2007, she testified against Purdue Pharma in Federal Court in Virginia at the sentencing of their three CEO's - Michael Friedman, Howard Udell and Paul Goldenheim - who pleaded guilty to charges of marketing OxyContin as less likely to be addictive or abused to physicians and patients. She also testified against Purdue Pharma at a Judiciary Hearing of the U.S. Senate in July 2007. Marianne works with government agencies and private attorneys in having a voice for her daughter Jill, who died in 2002 after being prescribed OxyContin, as well as the voice for scores of victims of OxyContin. She is currently working on a book that exposes Purdue Pharma for their continued criminal marketing of OxyContin.

Marianne is a nurse, graduated in 1991 as president of her class, and also has a Paralegal certification. Marianne served on a Community Service Board for the Courier News, a Gannet newspaper in NJ, writing articles predominantly regarding AIDS patients and their emotional issues. She was awarded a Community Service Award in 1993 by the Hunterdon County, NJ HIV/AIDS Task Force in recognition of and appreciation for the donated time, energy and love in facilitating a Support Group for persons with HIV/AIDS.

TWITTER: twitter.com/MarianneSkolek
YOUTUBE: youtube.com/watch?v=tmPG1VjD61U&list=UUWoHUEr4ZAbQOfIqtOArjgg&index=6&feature=plcp
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/marianne.skolek 

Ebola outbreak in DR Congo now second worst in history

Health workers have been vaccinating people against Ebola to prevent the spread of the virus

30 November 2018

The UN's global health body says the Ebola outbreak in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is now the second-biggest ever recorded.

A total of 426 cases of the virus have now been reported in and around the town of Beni, taking the outbreak past that recorded in Uganda in 2000.

Beni is in the middle of a conflict zone and operations have been affected by rebel attacks.

Almost 200 people have died in this outbreak of Ebola.

But it is still much smaller than the epidemic in West Africa between 2013 and 2016 which killed 11,310 people.

This is the second Ebola outbreak in DR Congo this year. The previous outbreak, in the west of the country, killed 33 people, according to the government.

• Africa Live: Real-time news updates from across the continent
• Why Ebola keeps coming back
• Life after Ebola

"[We] will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Congolese health ministry to do whatever it takes to bring the outbreak to an end," the World Health Organization's Deputy Director-General for Emergency Preparedness and Response has said in a tweet.

Skip Twitter post by @PeteSalama

Peter Salama

✔@PeteSalama

Replying to @PeteSalama

The #Ebola outbreak in #DRC is now second largest historically. A sad toll, with too many families losing loved ones. @WHO and partners will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with @MinSanteRDC to do whatever it takes to bring the outbreak to an end.

28

3:11 PM - Nov 29, 2018

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The current outbreak in eastern DR Congo began in July and is the 10th to hit the country since 1976.

Health workers hope that the first multi-drug Ebola treatment trial, announced by DR Congo's health ministry on Monday, will help to contain this and future outbreaks.

Explaining the World Health Organization-backed initiative, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a "randomised control trial" in DR Congo was a "giant step" that would "bring clarity about what works best, and save many lives in years to come".

Insecurity in the east of the country has affected the Ebola response.

A deadly rebel attack in September forced health workers to halt vaccinations and the tracing of people who have been in contact with suspected Ebola patients.

The previous month, the WHO's Peter Salama warned of such a "dreaded" scenario coming to pass.

United Backlash Halts Transfer of Key CID Officer

Behind the conflicting statements from various limbs of the State, a clearer picture is emerging of the circumstances surrounding the abortive attempt to remove Police Inspector Adrian Nishantha Silva from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and to transfer the officer to the Negombo Police Division. The order from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for Silva’s transfer came on the night of November 18, 2018 citing ‘essential service requirements’.

• Thursday, 29 November 2018 00:00
• 
  

In the days and even hours prior to the issuance of this order, which was made without consulting the National Police Commission (NPC), the IGP had come under severe pressure from the President and military brass to remove Silva from the CID. There was equal pressure from the CID leadership not to interfere with the officer’s career, according to documents the Daily Mirror is in possession.

United Backlash Halts Trans... by on Scribd

CDS warned, remanded

Harbouring SLN officer with abduction allegations

November 28, 2018, 11:46 pm 

Police yesterday arrested a junior navy officer who allegedly obstructed photographers and assaulted one of them who were at the Fort Magistrate’s court to cover a high-profile wartime abduction case in which Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne has been accused of helping one of the suspects to flee the country.

A senior police arrested the suspect after photographers had confronted him while he was trying to leave the scene. The suspect obstructed the photographers as Admiral Wijegunaratne left the Fort Magistrate’s court after being directed to come in civvies. The senior most serving officer arrived at the court around 9.00 am yesterday morning in uniform.

Later the Admiral arrived in civvies and was remanded till Dec. 5 pending further investigations.

Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake. while remanding the CDS. noted that the CID hadn’t been able to arrest the suspect on previous occasions due to pressure. Dissanayake also directed the police to inquire into alleged recent assault on Lt Commander Laksiri Galagama, one of the key witnesses in the case.

The Magistrate directed the CID to arrest the Admiral after the court was told that he had allegedly harboured Lt. Commander Prasad Hettiarachchi, one of those SLN personnel allegedly involved in the abductions.

Members of the entire Navy unit that provided security to wartime Navy Chief Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, including a senior officer in charge of it, were arrested in connection with the 11 abductions.

Police investigations got underway soon after the conclusion of the war following a complaint lodged by Admiral Karannagoda in May 2009.

The incumbent CDS was first requested to appear before the CID last September. He went overseas. He failed to report to the CID on Tuesday, as requested. Instead, the Admiral surrendered to the court yesterday.

ASP attached to the CID B S Tissera told court that Inspector Nishantha Silva investigating the case had been transferred following unsubstantiated allegations made by Admiral Wijegunaratne, at a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), Chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena on Nov 13, 2018. Tissera said that IGP Pujitha Jayasundera had acted on Admiral Wijegunaratne's request. Alleging that the transfer had resulted in threats to the life of the officer and his family, ASP Tissera told court that the DIG, in charge of the CID, had cleared the officer of accusations directed by Admiral Wijegunaratne as regards his alleged involvement with the LTTE.

ASP Tissera said that the CDS had interfered in the investigation by causing the transfer of the officer conducting the inquiry. According to the CID officer, the former Navy Chief had made false allegations against Inspector Silva.

The Magistrate turned down Admiral Wijegunaratne's request to make a statement in court. President's Counsel Anuja Premaratne appearing for the Admiral was told to advise his client on court procedures.

ASP Tissera further said that though there had been another reason for Inspector Silva's transfer that couldn't be revealed in court.

Attorney-at-law Achala Seneviratne, appearing for the aggrieved party told court that the CDS, in spite of being a suspect in this case, had left the court for when proceedings were suspended for one hour. The lawyer said that several navy personnel in civies had attacked photojournalists outside the court as the officer left court. She asked what the situation would be if the Admiral was given bail.

The Magistrate said that according to a letter submitted by the CID, the suspect had got the investigating officer transferred. The Magistrate said that the court considered the suspect holding such a senior rank shouldn't have acted that way. (SF)