Parliamentarian Duminda Silva left the Nawaloka hospital this morning and was scheduled to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Silva was receiving treatment in hospital for injuries suffered during the Bharatha Lakshman shooting incident.

Silva was this week released on bail in the Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra murder case.

Four others were also granted bail by the Colombo High Court in relation to the case.

Amnesty International will launch a new report next week documenting how the Sri Lankan government has allegedly stepped up its crackdown on dissenting views over the past years through threats, harassment, imprisonment and violent attacks.

The document, “Assault on Dissent”, reveals how the government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa is increasingly equating criticism with treason in a bid to tighten its grip on power, Amnesty International said in a media note today.

EPDP leader and Minister Douglas Devananda last Sunday urged Northern Province residents not to get carried away by false propaganda disseminated by some self-centered Opposition politicians.

An EPDP spokesman quoted the Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development minister as having said the government had started mega development projects just after the war ended in 2009 and was still continuing with the construction projects for the welfare of war affected people.

Recently, I was called upon on different occasions to address different groups of the legal fraternity. The present period, as you know, is the most perilous in the history of our justice system, and to date the crisis remains unresolved. The future of an independent judicial system seems bleak, and despite the immense courage shown by some of its members, the community seems to feel despondent and desolate.

Delivering an Oration on the topic of “Whither Sri Lankan Tamils?” today, I address a community that is in an exponentially worse situation. The precarious position in which the Tamil speaking community is placed today is highlighted by the aftermath of my recent speeches.

A Senior Judge of Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal Justice Rohini Marasinghe was sworn in as a Judge of the Supreme Court before Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees Friday.

Justice Marasinghe, a 30-year veteran of the judiciary, was the President and Secretary of the Judicial Services Association and also President and Secretary of the High Court Judges' Association.

Democratic National Alliance Parliamentarian Sunil Handunetti says that the incidents which transpired in Parliament confirm that there is no room for public opinion.

A tense situation arose in Parliament on Wednesday when members of the opposition lit candles and entered the well of the Parliament in protest against the increase in electricity tariffs.

Parliamentarian Sunil Handunetti shared these views

Speaking to reporters Friday, UNP Parliamentarian Dr.Harsha de Silva says the mafia on privatisation is in operation behind the increase of the electricity tariffs.

'I can responsibly mention here that in 2004, when this government came into power the Ceylon Electricity Board owned 63 percent of shares of the LTL Projects. Now what have we got know about it is that 63 percent of LTL has been privatised without telling anyone. Back in 2005 the CEB owned 63 percent of Heladanavi and now it has diluted down to 23 percent. Has this not been privatised? The mafia is in operation through this.'

UNP Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake who is engaged on a tour of Jaffna expressed these views on the issues prevalent in the area.
'Behind us you could see the barbed wire fences. So you could see that we are in a high security zone area. We basically spoke as it was protocoled that we keep the armed forces informed and the police, and I must say that they were helpful. They said please go ahead and do certain things because it is the people where the lands have been forcefully taken.

A group including UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe undertook a four-day tour of the Jaffna peninsula on Thursday.

Parliamentarians Tissa Attanayake and DM Swaminathan are accompanying  the Opposition Leader during the tour.

According to the Opposition Leader's tour schedule, the leader of the opposition is scheduled to meet with civil activists, professionals and religious leaders in the Jaffna District.

 

The Opposition Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe said that he doesn’t want to answer the Sinhala Hippies who write in English and fulfill the contracts of the Rajapaksa Government.

He added this comment when a journalist enquired about a news item published in a government media.

He further said that he advised the Secretary to the United National Party Tissa Attanayake and Member of Parliament  Ravi Karunanayake to go and check about the complains made by Tamils regarding the high security area in Jaffna.