2nd killing in election violence reported from Puththa'lam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 January 2010, 15:33 GMT]
A United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) supporter was shot and killed and four others injured in a clash between UPFA and United National Party (UNP) supporters Saturday afternoon at Mathurangkuzhi in Puththa'lam North Western Province. Sri Lankan Police said the dead was a supporter of the ruling UPFA. Four others were also injured in the shooting. Several buildings in the area were set on fire. The shops belong to the UNP supporters were set on fire by the UPFA supporters.
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Ruling party Matara Mayor extends support to Fonseka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 January 2010, 08:03 GMT]
Mayor of Matara Municipal Council, Upul Nishantha, Saturday crossed over from the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and extended support to General (retd) Fonseka. Mr. Upul Nishantha is the Matara district organizer of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main constituent of the UPFA.
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JHU faction quits party to support Fonseka

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 2010, 12:31 GMT]
Seven leading Buddhist monks holding important posts in the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a constituent of ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse pledged their support to Opposition Common Candidate General Sarath Fonseka in the forthcoming presidential election, reports from Colombo said.
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SL minister joins Fonseka

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 2010, 09:47 GMT]
Cegu Issadeen, a non-cabinet minister in the government led by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and one of the leaders of the National Unity Alliance (NUA) Friday morning rejoined the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, extending his support to retired Sri Lankan General Sarath Fonseka in the upcoming Presidential Elections.
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TNA delegation leaves to New Delhi to meet Indian leaders

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 2010, 02:55 GMT]
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) left Colombo Tuesday to New Delhi on the invitation of the Government of India. Mr. R. Sampanthan, TNA head of the parliamentary group, is leading the delegation. The TNA delegation is expected to take a flight to New Delhi from Chennai Wednesday evening and to hold talks with Indian leaders on Thursday, TNA sources said.
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Tissainayagam released from prison on bail

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 2010, 12:43 GMT]
Senior Journalist J.S Tissainayagam incarcerated for nearly twenty two months was released Wednesday morning on bail, legal sources in Colombo said. He was arrested on March 7, 2008 by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) under the Emergency Regulations (ER) and Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and charged for inciting communal hatred by writing articles to North Eastern Herald magazine. After trial the Colombo High Court convicted and sentenced him to twenty years rigorous imprisonment. Subsequently he filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal.
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Patten: Sri Lanka to choose between two alleged war criminals

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 2010, 02:31 GMT]
Chris Patten, currently the co-chairman of the International Crisis Group, notes in a New York Times article that public in Sri Lanka is "faced with a choice between two candidates who openly accuse each other of war crimes," and adds, "[w]hoever wins, the outside world should use all its tools to convince the government to deal properly with those underlying issues to avoid a resurgence of mass violence....In short, this means not giving Colombo any money for reconstruction and development until we know how it will be spent. And if we see funds not being used as promised, it means not being afraid to cut them off until." Patten is a senior international figure and is the last British governor of Hong Kong.
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Tissainayagam released on bail

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 2010, 11:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal Monday allowed Senior Journalist J.S.Tissanayagam on cash bail in a sum of fifty thousand rupees with a condition to surrender his passport, pending the appeal against his 20 year conviction, legal sources in Colombo said.
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British Minister calls for independent war-crimes probe

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 2010, 02:32 GMT]
A senior British Minister Friday said that the allegations of war crimes especially during the last phase of war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) including the killing of Lasantha Wickrematunge in Sri Lanka should be probed independently. British International Development Minister, Gareth Thomas MP made these remarks in his address at the First Anniversary of the killing of late editor of Sri Lanka’s weekly, Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickramatunge, during an event held at Mahatma Gandhi Hall, 41 Fitzroy Square London on Friday, 08 January 2010 between 07:00 – 09:00 PM. The event was organized by Tamil Legal Advocacy Project (TLAP).
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Pirapaharan father's remains released, funeral in VVT on Sunday

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 2010, 15:44 GMT]
The funeral of late Thiruvengadam Velupillai, father of LTTE leader leader Mr. V. Pirabaharan, is to take place in Valveddiththu'rai on Sunday. The mother of LTTE leader Mr. V. Pirapaharan, Vallipuram Parvathy, was Friday released from Sri Lanka Army custody and handed over to Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian and Presidential candidate M. K. Sivajilingam, SLA officials in Colombo said. The ailing 80-year-old mother was driven by road from Colombo to the northern Jaffna Peninsula in an ambulance.
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Sivageetha announces support to Fonseka

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 2010, 10:37 GMT]
Batticaloa Mayor Sivageetha Prabhakaran Friday resigned from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and joined United National Party (UNP) to support General (retd) Fonseka in the upcoming Sri Lankan Presidential elections. Ms. Sivageetha was earlier in the TMVP paramilitary group faction led by Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, the present chief minister in the Eastern Provincial Council. Later she joined the SLFP at the request of Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, now a minister the Rajapaksa government who is also one of the vice presidents of SLFP.
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3 Tamil political prisoners on hunger strike admitted to Jaffna hospital

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 2010, 07:28 GMT]
Three of the 25 Tamil political prisoners in Jaffna prison who are on hunger strike demanding their immediate release, were rushed to Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) Thursday as their condition was critical, JTH sources said. They, however, are now out of danger but still under treatment, the sources added. The 25 Tamil political prisoners, including two women, have been in languishing in Jaffna prison for a long time without being produced in the courts.
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JVP councilor house attacked, Fonseka party office burnt down

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 2010, 13:52 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons believed to be supporters of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Wednesday, in two separate incidents, attacked the residence of a leading activist of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in Minuwangoda and burnt down the party office of the opposition common candidate General Sarath Fonseka located in Divulapitya, media in Colombo reported.
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Student Union demands release of Tamil students, Amila Thera

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 2010, 12:53 GMT]
Hundreds of students of the Inter-University Students Union (IUSU) held a protest Thursday afternoon demanding the government to release Tamil university students arrested as LTTE suspects and Venerable Amila Thera. The demonstration which commenced from the premises of the Colombo University was stopped by police at Ernest De Silva Mawatha to prevent the students from proceeding towards Temple Trees, Colombo media reported.
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LTTE leader Pirapaharan's father passes away in SLA custody

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 2010, 12:39 GMT]
Thiruvengdam Velupillai, the father of LTTE leader Mr. V. Pirapaharan, passed away following a brief illness in Panagoda Sri Lanka Army camp Wednesday night, Sri Lankan military officials in Colombo said. The headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a message Thursday conveyed its condolences to Mrs. Velupillai, children and relatives. The entire Tamil Nation laments for the demise of Mr. Velupillai, who preferred to be with the people during the war, the statement said. Mr. Velupillai was kept in isolation and illegal custody by the SLA and was denied of proper medical care at his grand old age, the LTTE further said.
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Alternative world to hold tribunal on Sri Lanka's war crimes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 2010, 02:00 GMT]
An independent commission of jurists of the Rome based Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT) will be meeting in Dublin, Ireland, on 14th and 15th of January 2010 to investigate allegations that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and its armed forces committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during its final phase of the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The commission will also examine violations of human rights in the aftermath of the war and the local and international factors that led to the collapse of the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement. The provisional findings of the Peoples' Commission will be announced to the public on January 16.
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Tamil political prisoners in CRP, Magazine prisons on hunger strike

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 2010, 13:32 GMT]
More than 360 Tamil political prisoners being detained in Colombo Remand Prison and in the Magazine prison in Colombo are on a wide scale hunger strike demanding the authorities to expedite their cases or release them on bail. 52-year-old Kanagasabai Devadasan, who was former State Film Corporation director, abducted and later detained at the New Magazine Prison in Welikada, launched his fast-unto-death campaign on January 01 demanding authorities to prosecute if there are any charges against him. Mr. Devadasan has also demanded that the case should be heard in Tamil.
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Tamil detainees in Welikada prison attacked, 2 injured

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 2010, 16:34 GMT]
Two Tamil detainees held under the Emergency Regulations (ER)and Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in Welikada prison were injured in an attack carried out on Sunday by another group of prisoners in remand for other various offences. The injured were admitted to the Prisons Hospital immediately for treatment, Colombo media reported quoting prison sources.
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Election clash in Nawalapitiya, 2 JVP activists injured

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 2010, 03:42 GMT]
Supporters of the Sri Lanka common opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka and supporters of Sri Lanka government minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage clashed Sunday evening in Warakawa in Nawalapitiya, Colombo media reported. Several activists from all sides were injured, and two Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) supporters were admitted to the Kandy Teaching Hospital.
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Chandrasekaran funeral to take place Monday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 January 2010, 14:36 GMT]
The funeral of the leader of the Upcountry People's Front and the Minister of Community Development and Social Inequity Eradication, Periyasamy Chandrasekaran, who passed away after a brief illness Friday morning in Colombo, will take place Monday evening with full State honors in Talawakelle Urban Council grounds in the Nuwara Eliya district, party sources in Nuwara Eliya said.
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