 This soldier of the Army rescue team is certainly not fishing in troubled waters. He is salvaging a fish from the Antanov 32 which crash-landed at Ratmalana while carrying troops and food items, including 100 kilos of Bala fish to the north. Pic. by Kumara Dayawansa Nanneththi |
Contents |
The LTTE has detained the Indian crew of the ill-fated fishing trawler which capsized causing the drowning of more than 130 Sri Lankan Tamils following claims by survivors that the crew was responsible for the tragedy as they were drunk, reports from the North said.
Divers sent by the LTTE, rescued 20 people including the crew of the trawler believed to have been arranged by the LTTE. The trawler was carrying men, women and children to India.
Survivors interviewed over LTTE's clandestine radio, Voice of the Tigers' claimed the vessel was overloaded and the allegedly drunken crew failed to avoid a submerged sand bank, off the Mannar coast. Earlier small LTTE boats had transported around 160 civilians part of the way and loaded them into the trawler.
Meanwhile, the LTTE yesterday called on the people to observe a day of mourning and hoist white flags as a mark of respect to the victims, most of whom were people from Jaffna who had taken refuge in Kilinochchi during earlier military operations.
By yesterday some 85 bodies had been recovered while more than 40 are missing. The bodies were kept in the Akkarayankulam Hospital mortuary in the LTTE-controlled area of Wanni and 62 of the victims have been identified, the LTTE radio said.
A survivor said among those on board were some who wanted to get to western countries after crossing over to India while the majority were seeking refuge in India.
Meanwhile, TULF President M. Sivasithamparam in a strongly worded statement yesterday said, 'The government must take responsibility for this tragedy on the high seas. These people fled from Kilinochchi and other places in the Wanni when the Sri Lankan armed forces launched an attack. They ran to escape from heavy and continuous shelling and straffing from the air.
"Before they could reach Vavuniya, they learnt of the hardships and privations suffered by Tamil refugees cooped in detention camps in Vavuniya. These harrowing tales of semi-starvation, disease and even death made them give up the idea of going to Vavuniya and they had no alternative but to flee to India" the TULF leader said in a letter to President Kumaratunga.
UNP campaign leader Anura Bandaranaike revealed yesterday he had reliable information of a threat to his life from a powerful source within the government. In a letter to the Inspector General of Police he has appealed for more security.
In a letter Mr. Bandaranaike has formally informed Police Chief W.B. Rajaguru of this threat to his life and asked for adequate security.
Mr. Bandaranaike said he had information that this attempt on his life would probably be made during the run-up to the local elections.
"As Inspector General of Police I am putting you on notice of this threat and expect you to take appropriate and immediate action to ensure my safety," he said.
Mr. Bandaranaike said despite threats to his life he would continue his campaign for the UNP and go ahead with meetings for the local elections.
Medical tests done on the 81-year-old Prime Minister, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, indicate everything is normal and her condition is stable, doctors said.
Ms. Bandaranaike was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital last Monday with what doctors described as complications in the alimentary canal. After tests she was moved to the Presidential suite where her children, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Sunethra and Anura Bandaranaike were among those who visited her.
Doctors said one more test might have to be done and the matriarch of Sri Lankan politics could probably go home today or tomorrow.
Susantha Punchinilame who evaded one of the biggest nationwide manhunts for more than a week before surrendering to a Colombo court last Thursday told The Sunday Times he did not shoot Nalanda Ellawala but his bodyguards were compelled to open fire to protect him from a hail of bullets.
Mr. Punchinilame in a brief interview before he surrendered at the Fort Magistrate's Courts, at Kompanna Veediya said, the confrontation began after PA supporters provoked UNP men after the nominations.
The fugitive Ratnapura district MP dressed in a striped shirt and blue trouser and blue kit bag and pair of green shoes minus his usual beard walked into the court premises virtually unnoticed. He disclosed his identity to a Police officer at the gate. He remained for a few minutes on a bench in the main court hall until two lawyers called him up and took him into the Chambers of Acting Magistrate, Jayantha Dias Nanayakkara. Mr. Punchinilame declined to give any details of how he escaped and remained in hiding for nine days.
He said the PA MP Nalanda Ellawala had been his school mate at S. Thomas' Mt. Lavinia. ''We were good friends at college. I was in a senior class and when I was a prefect I used to guide Nalanda. I never had a grudge against him". Mr. Punchinilame said before he was whisked away by Prison officials to the Welikada prisons and then to Mahara, high security prison.
Mr. Punchinilame said he was in possession of a camera at the time of the incident and had taken vital photographs which would be produced at the proper time.
''Why aren't the authorities showing my vehicle which I was using at the time of the incident. The vehicle has several bullet marks which proves that there was firing at us. My body guards opened fire to protect me. That is their duty'', he said.
Consequent to the shooting incident his property amounting to more than Rs. 20 million had been destroyed, he charged. Referring to the delay in surrendering Mr. Punchinilame said, "I had no faith in the Police and waiting for a chance to surrender to courts''.
More than 500,000 government employees will not get the last budget's salary increment for the second month as many departments failed to adjust salaries.
Officials said they were unable to restructure salary scales in a hurry, owing to the complexity involved in adjusting scales.
"In the first place the circular instructing us to grant the increment, reached our department in late January; so we are unable to pay the increments before March," said a government accountant.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga has warned Ministers and MPs to refrain from making adverse comments that might cause embarrassment to the government, our sister paper, The Sunday Lankadeepa said quoting political sources.
They said the warning came after statements made by party frontliners, specially on the Ellawala assassination and at the funeral in Ratnapura.
Upholding the fundamental right of every Sri Lankan to be different, to think differently and to express different opinions in public, the Supreme Court has given judgement in favour of two supporters of the UNP who were arrested and detained for possessing and circulating a pamphlet critical of the Government.
The State was ordered to pay an unprecedented Rs. 70,000/= to each of the petitioners, while two police officers of Elpitiya responsible for the illegal arrest and detention were individually ordered to pay Rs. 5,000/= to each petitioner.
The award of this amount of compensation is seen as a stern expression of judicial will to curb abuse of police powers of arrest and detention that continue despite repeated warnings by the Supreme Court, legal analysts said.
Justice Mark Fernando delivered the judgement of the Bench which also comprised Justices Wijetunge and Ananda Coomarasamy.
"The expression of views which may be unpopular, obnoxious, distasteful or wrong is nevertheless within the ambit of free speech and expression, provided of course there is no advocacy of or incitement to violence or other illegal conduct... for dissent is inextricably woven into the fabric of democracy" Justice Fernando said, quoting from previous case law.
In this case, Premawathie Wijeratne, a lottery ticket seller in Elpitiya who is also an active supporter of the UNP in that area had sold some lottery tickets to another UNP party member by the name of Asoka Gunewardena, who had in the process, given her a UNP booklet to read. This booklet titled "Ratata Mokada Wenna Yanne? Menna Aththa" contained extracts from Parliamentary speeches made by the Leader of the Opposition and UNP Parliamentarians.
Shortly thereafter, a complaint had been lodged at the Elpitiya Police Station by Provincial Food Minister Gunaratne Weerakone to the effect that a woman was criticising the Government's peace process, and distributing an inflammatory booklet. The police were asked to look into the matter and take steps according to law.
The petitioners, alleged that they were immediately arrested by the police, ultimately being kept overnight at the police station. They were produced before the Elpitiya Magistrate the next day, and released on bail.
The Supreme Court stated that the circumstances of the case indicated that the police acted with undue haste upon the provincial councillor's complaint, knowing that it related only to a political dispute arising from political criticism of the govt. It did not appear that the police even read the booklet or examined its contents before they proceeded to arrest the petitioners.
The court pointed out that the police officers had not acted on the spur of the moment or in a sudden emergency, but that they had ample time to consider and seek advice if necessary. In this context, the Court ruled the fundamental rights of the petitioners to freedom of speech and expression, and freedom from arbitrary arrest had been violated by the police officers.
The provincial councillor on whose complaint the police officers had acted was however not found liable as he had only asked the police to act according to law.
"Police officers should be strongly directed that criticism of the govt. of political parties and policies is per se a permissible exercise of the freedom of speech," the Supreme Court said.
Tens of thousands of letters are likely to be delayed from tomorrow as postal workers launch a work-to-rule campaign from midnight today in protest against curtailment of overtime payments.
The 25,000 strong Union of Post and Telecommunication Officers (UPTO) is spearheading the action "to teach the government and postal bosses a lesson," Union Secretary N.P. Hettiarachchi said.
He said it was necessary to work overtime to sort out the thousands of mail bags but Postal Chief Soma Kotakadeniya apparently wanted only to cut down expenses.
Please send your comments and suggestions on this web site to
info@suntimes.is.lk or to
webmaster@infolabs.is.lk