News
Highest amount of compensation ever paid in FR case: Those affected by Easter Sunday carnage receive Rs. 310 million
Ex. Prez Sirisena highest contributor
Over 310 mn had been paid to five categories of the 2019 Easter Sunday victims according to a detailed report submitted by the Office of Reparations to the Supreme Court (SC) when the relevant Fundamental Rights cases were mentioned before Chief Justice Murdu Fernando, PC, Justice S. Thurairajah PC, and Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz recently.
His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo, the 57th Respondent in the SC FR 195/2019, was represented by Shammil J. Perera, PC, and Duthika Perera at these proceedings on the instructions of Gamini Senanayake.
During the proceedings, the Office for Reparations presented a detailed report to all parties setting out the details of payments made to the victims through the Fund which received altogether Rs. 311 mn as compensation paid by the respondents in these Fundamental Rights cases.
Former President Maithripala Sirisena paid the highest compensation amounting to Rs 100 mn to the Fund.
The SC on January 12, 2023 declared that former President Sirisena, former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former IGP Pujith Jayasundara, former National Intelligence Chief Senior DIG (retired) Sisira Mendis and former Chief of State Intelligence Service SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena had violated the fundamental rights of the people by failing to take action to prevent the Easter Sunday bombings in spite of having prior information of the impending attack.
The SC ordered Sirisena to pay Rs. 100 million in compensation to the petitioners, while Pujith Jayasundara and Nilantha Jayawardena were each ordered to pay Rs. 75 million; Hemasiri Fernando was ordered to pay Rs. 50 million and Sisira Mendis was ordered to pay Rs. 10 million from their personal funds. That order was delivered by a seven-member Supreme Court Judge bench with regard to 12 petitions filed by various parties stating that their fundamental rights had been violated by negligence and failure to prevent the coordinated terrorist attacks on 21 April, 2019.
Legal sources said that Rs 310 mn was the highest amount of compensation ever paid in a Fundamental Rights case here.
Accordingly, the Easter Attack 2019 Victim Fund made the relevant payments to the following categories of victims (1) Next of kin of deceased (2) Medical support for injured victims (3) Secondary School education support of students (4) Tertiary education support of students and Support for elders.
The SC was told by May 20, 2025 a total amount of Rs. 310,418,586.20/- had been disbursed to all the victims (99.78% of total funds collected). According to the Office of reparations, altogether 661 beneficiaries had been paid by the Fund.
Subsequent to deducting all bank charges, Rs. 581,413.80/- remained in the Fund, the SC was told.
On behalf of His Eminence the Archbishop of Colombo, Shammil J. Perera extend the sincere appreciation and the deep sense of gratitude of the Church towards their Lordships of the Supreme Court in delivering a landmark judgment and thereafter taking the requisite steps to ensure that these funds had been properly disbursed to all of the victims of these attacks. The counsel for the Cardinal also extended the Church’s profound sense of appreciation to the Attorney General’s Department and the Office for Reparation in aiding in the exercise of distributing these payments to the deserving victims. Thereby the proceedings of these Fundamental Rights cases were terminated, sources said. (SF)
The Ambassador of Switzerland to Sri Lanka Dr. Siri Walt paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on the 17th of February at the Temple Trees.
Welcoming the Ambassador of Switzerland to Sri Lanka the Prime Minister briefed the Ambassador on her recent visit to Davos to participate in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting noting that the series of high-level bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the Forum, along with two important industry visits provided valuable insights for Sri Lanka’s economic engagement.
The discussion focused on Switzerland’s vocational education and training (VET) system, with particular interest in exploring possible cooperation and knowledge-sharing opportunities.
The Prime Minister also conveyed her appreciation for the assistance extended by the Government of Switzerland following Cyclone Ditwah. She emphasized Sri Lanka’s need for enhanced technical assistance during the ongoing rebuilding phase, especially in relation to the reconstruction of bridges and railway infrastructure.
Both sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to further strengthening bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Switzerland, and to expanding cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
First Secretary (Political) of the Embassy of Switzerland in Colombo Ms. Justine Boillat, First Secretary (Migration) of the Embassy of Switzerland in Colombo Ms. Andrea Kienast and the Secretary to the Prime Minister, Pradeep Saputhanthri, Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister, Ms. Sagarika Bogahawatt and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Foreign Employment, Tourism.attended the meeting.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
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Advisory for low pressure area in the Southwest Bay of Bengal to the south-east of Sri Lanka
Advisory for low pressure area in the Southwest Bay of Bengal to the south-east of Sri Lanka.
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology at 03.00 pm on 18 February 2026
Multiday boats fishermen and naval community are warned that the low-pressure area still persists over the Southwest Bay of Bengal to the south-east of Sri Lanka. Under the influence of this system, heavy showers or thundershowers, Strong winds about (50-60) kmph, and rough or very rough seas can be expected in these sea areas.
The Meteorological Department is constantly monitoring the behavior of the system.
The naval and fishing communities are requested to be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard.
Canada, said to be the home to the largest Tamil Diaspora community, has expressed concern over the delay in holding Provincial Council (PC) elections. Canadian High Commissioner Isabelle Martin, on Monday (16), took up the issue with Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Professor Chandana Abayaratne.
Sources quoted Prof. Abayaratne as having told the Canadian HC that the delay was not deliberate on the part of the government. The Minister blamed, what the sources called, certain legal, technical and delimitation issues for the delay.
India compelled Sri Lanka to enact the 13th Amendment to the country’s Constitution to enable the setting up of the Provincial Council system, in line with the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord, which Sri Lanka signed under duress in July 1987.
Prof. Abayaratne has assured the Canadian HC that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, too, recognised the importance of strengthening the Provincial Council system as a solution to ethnic issues and that urgent steps would be taken in that regard.
During the discussion, matters relating to strengthening political, economic and social relations between the two countries were discussed.
In May 2020, Canada declared that Sri Lanka had perpetrated genocide during the war against the LTTE. Canada also sanctioned former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa in January 2023 over alleged war crimes.
The Canadian HC also explained her country’s ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy and how Sri Lanka could benefit from it.
In particular, Canada’s “Pathways to Peace” project will support reconciliation between nations, and to improve communication by encouraging the learning of mutual languages as a second language, and it was also agreed to provide more opportunities for Sri Lankan students to pursue higher studies in Canada.
The Canadian delegation also expressed its willingness to provide the necessary technical assistance to solve the drinking water problems in Puttalam, Mannar and the North-Eastern provinces under technical cooperation, and to implement the relevant projects after a preliminary study.
by Shamindra Ferdinando
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