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New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Sri Lankan president orders probe into purported pardon of convict
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake ordered a police probe into the release from prison of a convicted criminal under a purported pardon from him, a statement from his office said on Saturday. The probe was ordered after an individual named W.H. Athula Tilakaratne, serving a sentence at Anuradhapura Prison, was released under the presidential pardon granted on Vesak 2025 despite his name not being among 388 inmates recommended for amnesty, the statement from the president's office said. Article 34 (1) of the Sri Lankan Constitution says the president can pardon convicted prisoners. A list of inmates recommended for pardon is forwarded for approval by the president after a review by the Ministry of Justice. The Presidential Secretariat said a serious irregularity may have occurred in connection with this incident, according to the statement.
The Hindu
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Defence pact with India to be presented in Parliament, says Sri Lankan president
File picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at Presidential Secretariat, in Colombo | Photo Credit: ANI Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said that the defence pact with India would be presented in Parliament soon. Mr. Dissanayake was responding to opposition criticism that his NPP government had entered a secret defence pact with India when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka from April 4 to 6 and has been demanding that the MoU be revealed. 'They are creating false narratives. These are imaginary monsters created by them without seeing it. There are agreements between the countries, they are open for both sides. It is our responsibility to ensure our own security. This has been stated in a clause in the agreement,' Mr. Dissanayake said during a TV talk show Friday night. Mr. Dissanayake had ensured Sri Lanka's consistent position that its soil would not be allowed to be used for any anti-Indian activity so as to endanger its neighbour's national security concerns. Mr. Modi, in his banquet speech, had thanked Mr. Dissanayake for this position. The opposition has riled the National People's Power (NPP) for signing pacts with India as its mother party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in 1987-90 had led a bloody rebellion to protest a direct Indian intervention in Sri Lanka's Tamil minority issue. The Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardena signed Indo Lanka Peace Accord brought in constitutional changes prescribing a council for each of Sri Lanka's nine provinces. The JVP led a violent campaign against anyone who supported the Indo-Lanka Accord until they came to be militarily crushed in late 1989. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation between India and Sri Lanka signed on April 5 during Prime Minister Modi's visit to the island nation will remain in force for five years. It is for the first time that India and Sri Lanka have inked a major defence pact to institutionalise a framework for deeper engagement in the military domain. 'India annually trains around 750 Sri Lankan military personnel. This defence partnership continues to be an invaluable asset,' Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Thuiyakontha had said after it was signed. 'As part of the cooperation under this MoU, both parties are committed to respecting each other's military and national laws, as well as the principles and purposes of the U.N. Charter-including sovereign equality and non-intervention in internal affairs,' Mr. Thuiyakontha had said. Published - May 03, 2025 03:14 pm IST
