News

JVP, FSP ask govt., to reveal identities of men in uniform with iron rods at IUSF protest

Published

4 years ago

2023/03/17

Thilina Walpola

House Committee to take up issue next week

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Over a week after the Opposition accused the government of deploying troops armed with wooden poles and iron bars at a protest launched by Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) in Colombo on March 07, Army headquarters said that the contingent of men in question had not been identified.

Military Spokesman Brig. Ravi Herath insisted that those men in photographs released to the media and in video footage were certainly not army personnel.The IUSF is affiliated to the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), a breakaway faction of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

Asked how a contingent of men in uniform positioned so close to the police tasked to crackdown on protesting IUSF activists, the Military Spokesman claimed troops deployed in support of law enforcement authorities were about 500 metres away.

“Those in disputed video footage and still pictures are definitely not army personnel,” Brig. Herath said. The Signals officer received appointment as the military spokesman in early October last year after the change of government.

Pointing out that JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake had released those controversial pictures to the media, The Island asked whether the Army headquarters would lodge a complaint with the police with the objective of establishing the identity of the contingent and the authenticity of the photographs. While ruling out the possibility of the army lodging a complaint, Brig. Herath said the issue was being handled by the police.

State Defence Minister Prameetha Bandara Tennakoon, too, told The Island those who had been pictured carrying wooden poles were yet to be identified. He said that a statement on the issue would be issued soon.

The Island raised the issue with Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security. He said that he would take up the issue at the next committee meeting on Tuesday (21).

FSP spokesperson Pubudu Jagoda said that the government was now trapped in its own lies. Having cleared the Army of deploying troops armed with poles and clubs, the government spokespersons had no option but to propagate more lies, Jagoda, who is also FSP’s Education Secretary said.

However, due to the timely exposure of what he called illegal deployment, the defence top brass would have to be mindful of such actions, Jagoda said. The former JVPer found fault with the media for not vigorously pursuing this issue.

“The police are selectively efficient. Take the recent case of a young couple leaving their newborn in a train at the Fort Railway station. They were taken in within 24 hours and Police headquarters ordered an investigation into the conduct of those who arrested them. But the same efficiency is missing in the case of the contingent of ghost soldiers,” Jagoda said.

Responding to queries, Jagoda said that the government couldn’t discourage them by such tactics.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake told The Island that there couldn’t be any issue with regard to the credibility of evidence before the police. “Both print and electronic media reported this. Social media, too, covered the presence of armed men at IUSF protest,” lawmaker Dissanayake said, urging the government to admit its operation went awry.Dissanayake said that if anyone believed they were fake pictures, the police could question him.

Dissanayake said that those pictures were displayed at a press conference called by the JVP as he didn’t have any doubt about the identity of the contingent in question. “We’ll go flat out on this issue,” Dissanayake said, adding that the government should explain the circumstances troops moved in, in the absence of a declaration of an emergency.

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Geneva takes up Sallay’s case and govt. ignores opportunity to answer accusations

Published

4 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

Suresh Sallay

The government has chosen not to respond to questions raised by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) regarding the detention of retired Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay in connection with the ongoing investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the ex-official in late February this year. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers have jointly raised the issue on 20 July, 2026.

Drawing attention of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to what they called alleged arbitrary detention of Sallay, former Director General of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), as well as allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment while in custody, resulting in the grave deterioration of his health, and imminent risks of retaliation through further torture and ill-treatment resulting in irreparable harm, should he be released from hospital and returned to custody, the UN sought the government explanation with a 60-day period.

The UN has stated: “This communication, and any response received from your Excellency’s Government, will be made public via the communications reporting website at the 60 days mark. Should your Excellency’s Government respond within 60 days, both the communication and the response, may be published before the 60 days mark. The communications and responses

will also be made available in the subsequent periodic report to be presented to the Human Rights Council.”

In the absence of the government’s response, the UN posted the letter, dated 20 July, 2026, addressed to President Dissanayake. The full letter can be accessed https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=31125

News

Section of wartime KKS High Security Zone vacated to facilitate economic development in the area

Published

4 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

The Army, last week, vacated an area, within the wartime high security zone in the Jaffna peninsula. The Defence Ministry said that an extent of 187.56 acres of land, belonging to the Cement Corporation in Kankesanthurai, Jaffna, has been released by the military. The released land, located in Grama Niladhari Division J/233, Kankesanthurai West, within the Valikamam North (Tellippalai) Divisional Secretariat Division, had been utilised by the Sri Lanka Army since the middle of 1997.

The release of the 187.56-acre extent forms part of the initiative to make State land available for the proposed investment zone in Kankesanthurai, thereby facilitating future investment and economic development in the area.

News

Lawyer lodges complaint against Govt. Printer, Media Ministry Secy.

Published

4 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

A complaint has been lodged with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau against the Government Printer and the Secretary to the Ministry of Media regarding the online release of falsified documents bearing a forged Speaker’s certificate.

Attorney-at-Law Aruna Laksiri has lodged a complaint with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau requesting legal action against the Government Printer of the Department of Government Printing (No. 118, Dr. Danister de Silva Mawatha, Colombo 08), Prasanna Jayaratne, and the Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media (Asidisi Medura, 163, Kirulapone Mawatha, Polhengoda, Colombo 05), Dr. Anil Jasinghe.

The complaint alleges the commission of offences by forging and uploading falsified documents online using a forged Speaker’s certification, failure to perform statutory duties, and misappropriation of public property.

The complaint states that a copy of the English translation of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was downloaded and printed from the official website of the Government Printing Department (www.documents.gov.lk), which operates under the Ministry of Mass Media. On its outer cover and on page 1, the text “certified on 25th of September, 2026” is inscribed inside brackets.

The complaint pointed out that the Speaker has certified an English translation. Under Articles 23, 79, 83, and 80 of the Constitution, Parliament enacts laws and the Speaker certifies bills strictly in the Sinhala and Tamil languages; under the Constitution, therefore the Speaker cannot apply such certification to an English translation.