News

Three convicted for attempting to assassinate CBK among Tigers released

Published

4 years ago

2022/10/25

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has pardoned eight LTTE prisoners including three convicted for attempting to assassinate then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in 2001, during an election rally.

The President’s Media Division (PMD) said the President had granted amnesty to the prisoners by the powers assigned to the President under Article 34 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka in connection with granting amnesty to a person convicted by a court of Sri Lanka.

As a result of several discussions between Tamil MPs and the President on several occasions, steps were taken to release the prisoners.

Before their release, a preliminary investigation was carried out on them with the intervention of the Ministry of Defence on the instructions of the President.

The PMD said that this decision had been reached after consulting the Minister of Justice and through him the Attorney General about the consent report.

Three of the Tamil prisoners who were pardoned were those accused of attempting to assassinate former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

The PMD said before proceeding with the process of releasing these prisoners, the President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake had sought the approval of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on the advice of the President, and the relevant arrangements were made after obtaining her consent.

Accordingly, the four detainees with connections to the LTTE organization who were detained at the Colombo Magazine Prison were released after their sentence was reduced.

Two prisoners linked to the LTTE are to be released after the cases filed by them in the Court of Appeal are withdrawn and two more Tamil prisoners are to be released soon under the presidential amnesty.

The PMD said among the pardoned prisoners, three had been sentenced to 30 years in prison and had served 22 years. One prisoner had been sentenced to 11 years and had served 14 years, one had been sentenced to 10 years and had also served 14 years, and two prisoners had been sentenced to five years but had served for14 years.

The PMD added that another person who had been sentenced to 19 years in prison and had served 11 years of his sentence so far, was also among those who were pardoned by the President.

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News

Cabinet nod to increase the number of new automated passenger clearance gates at the Bandaranayake International Airport to 12

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 19.05.2025 to purchase four (04) automated passenger clearance gates for Bandaranayake International Airport.

In addition, it is expected to extend the automated passenger clearance gates facility so far given only to the Sri Lankans
parallel to the e – passport issuance system to be introduced in the year 2027 also to the foreigners who travel to and from this country.

Furthermore, considering also the number of air passengers rapidly increasing with the fast – forwarding business and tourism field, the appropriateness to increase the total automated passenger clearance gates up to twelve (12) in number has been recognized.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers, approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs to initiate the procurement and installation of 12
automated passenger clearance gates altogether with the already approved four (04) and another eight (08) automated passenger clearance gates adhering to the formal procurement procedure

News

Draft Bill for amending the Trust Ordinance

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Based on the observations submitted by the Task Force on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing for Terrorism, approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 18.12.2024 to amend the Trust Ordinance No. 9 of 1917 including amendments proposed by the Financial
Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, clearance of the Attorney General has been granted for the Trust (Amendment) Draft Bill formulated by the Legal Draftsman.

Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Justice and National Integration
to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and thereby, submit the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.

News

Implementing further relief programme to Public sffected by the Middle East conflict situation

Published

4 hours ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Action was taken to provide a fuel relief for the fuel consumers during the months of April, May and June of 2026 to redress by minimizing the impact caused to the day today life of the citizens of this country as well as the entire economy due to the price hike of petroleum fuel in the global market resulting from the war situation in the Middle East.

Government mediation is essential for minimizing the impact on the day to today life of citizens in this country due to that war situation not being ended further. Therefore, it has been planned to redress on the sale price for Auto Diesel and Industrial Diesel for a period of 03 months by the Government to provide relief to the public as well as to maintain the prices at a bearable level to the consumers without escalating the fuel prices in this country compared to the escalation of fuel prices
in the international market.

Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to
allocate provisions subject to the monthly limitations respectively as rupees 15 billion for the month of October, rupees 13.5 billion for the month of November and rupees 12.15 billion for the month of December to provide the said relief