News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 January 2000, 16:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka Red Cross officials are charged under Prevention of Terrorism Act, the leader of the Sinhala Veera Vithana sues Associated Newspapers and the Lanka Muditha docks in Trincomalee.

Red Cross official on terror charges

Sri Lankaís Attorney General has filed an indictment in the Colombo High Court against Sri Lanka Red Cross Society Vavuniya Co-ordinator Kishore Sivanathan and Nagamany Eswaranathan under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), said sources. The charges are conspiring and expending money for perpetration of violence by the Liberation Tigers.

According to the indictment, the offences are said to have been committed during the period between April 4, and August 12, 1999.

The police are producing aconfession made by Eswaranathan to the police and a statement made by Kishore Sivanathan, the sources said.

---

SVV leader files case

The three hundred million rupee defamation suit filed by Sinhala Veera Vithana Movement leader Rev Sobitha Thera against Associated Newspapers Ltd comes up for hearing before Colombo Additional District Judge N.Yogasigamany on March 25, legal sources said.

The plaint stated that an article published in the Tamil National Daily Newspaper published by the LakeHouse depicted the plaintiff Rev Sobitha Thera as a communal minded person, who wants only the Buddhists to live in Sri Lanka.

The plaint added that the article published in Thinakaran dated April 12, 1998 has caused grave damage to his reputation and therefore sought damages in a sum of Rs 300,000,000/=.

---

Lanka Muditha in Trincomalee

The Lanka Muditha, a passenger and cargo ship arrived in Trincomalee harbor today morning with 1178 passengers from Jaffna in its first voyage in two months.

This is the first passenger ship service undertaken by the Commissioner General of Essential Services between Jaffna and Trincomalee in the year 2000, Divisional Secretariat sources said.

Lanka Muditha will leave Trincomalee tomorrow with more than 1000 passengers to Kankesanthurai port in Jaffna peninsula, civil sources added.