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Lankan man convicted of sexual assault and counterfeiting currency denied refugee status, must leave New Zealand
A Sri Lankan man convicted of sexual assault and counterfeiting currency has been denied refugee status in New Zealand.The man – who comes from a wealthy family – is afraid he will be “labelled as a criminal sex offender” if he returns to Sri Lanka.
He initially claimed he was bisexual, but when the man was questioned by the Refugee Status Unit he retracted that statement.The Immigration and Protection Tribunal found the man’s belief that he would be persecuted was not well founded and his appeal for refugee status was rejected.
The 33-year-old man also said he was afraid of retaliation after he was charged with attempted murder in 2013 for hitting a man with some timber while protecting one of his family’s 15 sawmills from a gang.
He spent 28 days in jail and was released after his family paid money to local authorities.He was threatened and, fearful of gang retaliation, the man said he “went into hiding” at a family home.In a bid to flee Sri Lanka for his “own safety”, he applied for a student visa in New Zealand in 2014.
Four years later, he was still in New Zealand on an essential skills work visa and was spending his time partying and using drugs.At one party, he sexually assaulted a woman while intoxicated. He was arrested and charged.
While out on bail, the partying continued. This time, he made and used counterfeit money to keep up the habit.In November 2019, the man was convicted of 18 counts of using forged documents and one count of theft (of a sum under $500).
He was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, which was increased by an extra two years and eight months after he was also convicted of “unlawful sexual connection” with a woman aged over 16.
The man said his family in Sir Lanka was threatened and harassed because of his offending. They would not support him when he returned.The tribunal found there was no “real chance” of serious harm by the people who attacked one of his family’s sawmills.
It acknowledged that it may be hard for the man to go back to Sir Lanka after his offending in New Zealand but said there was “no right to be liked by everyone”.As to the lack of family support, the tribunal noted the man was 33 years old.
“He has lived independently of his family for many years and is not compelled to return to them in Sri Lanka.”
The man’s appeal was dismissed. He remains liable to be deported at the end of his sentence. – stuff.co.nz
By AJA Abeynayake
The Attorney General informed the Supreme Court on Thursday (27) that Rs. 245 million from the funds obtained from the respondents, as per the verdict delivered on 12 January 2023 by a seven-judge bench led by the Chief Justice, had been paid as compensation to the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks. The case stemmed from fundamental rights petitions filed against the respondents’ failure to prevent the coordinated attacks. To monitor the disbursement of these funds, 13 related fundamental rights petitions were taken up on Thursday before a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Murdu Fernando, Justices S. Thurairaja, and A.H.M.D. Nawaz. Representing the Attorney General, Additional Solicitor General Viveka Siriwardena informed the court that Rs. 311 million had been allocated for compensation, of which Rs. 245 million had already been distributed among 412 individuals, including the families of 215 deceased victims.
She further stated that Rs. 65 million from the allocated funds was expected to be used for victims’ medical treatment and for the care of affected elderly individuals.
President’s Counsel Shamil Perera and Sanjeeva Jayawardena, appearing on behalf of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, respectively, told the court that they had not yet received detailed reports on the compensation payments.
Chief Justice Fernando asked the Additional Solicitor General why those reports had not been provided to the relevant parties. The Additional Solicitor General responded that the proceedings were focused on monitoring the disbursement of compensation to victims.
The Chief Justice, however, noted that withholding those reports from the petitioners did not align with the objectives of the case. She ordered that the reports be immediately provided to the Cardinal and the other petitioners.The court scheduled the next hearing of the petitions for 21 May.
…. Gnanakka also received Rs. 28 mn
Chief Government Whip Minister Nalinda Jayathissa said on Thursday that the Ranil Wickremesinghe government had spent an additional Rs. 1,125 million as compensation for individuals whose houses were destroyed in 2022.
That was in addition to the Rs. 1,221 million paid to politicians as compensation, Minister Jayatissa said, revealing that an astrologer called Gnanakka from Anuradhapura had received Rs. 28 million in compensation for her Devalaya destroyed by mobs in 2022. (SI)
By Saman Indrajith
During yesterday’s parliamentary session, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya disclosed the expenditure incurred by the state on foreign trips undertaken by Sri Lanka’s Presidents.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s foreign trips between 2010 and 2014 cost Rs 3,572 million. His successor, Maithripala Sirisena spent Rs 384 million on overseas travel from 2015 to 2019. Gotabaya Rajapaksa spent Rs. 126 million from 2019 to 2022, while President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s foreign travel between 2023 and 2024 cost the state Rs 533 million.
In contrast, the current president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, had spent only Rs 1.8 million on foreign travel since assuming office in September 2024, the PM said.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the most expensive year for presidential foreign travel during that period was 2013, when Mahinda Rajapaksa’s trips alone amounted to an unprecedented Rs 1,144 million.
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