Category: news_sub

Sri Lankan man kills two kids in East London

A Sri Lankan man has reportedly stabbed himself in the neck after allegedly knifing his two kids to death at their East London flat, The Sun reported today.
Nitin Kumar, 40, remains in a critical condition in hospital after allegedly killing his two children, aged one and three, in Ilford on Sunday.
According to hospital sources, the dad-of-two sustained a severe cut to the neck after he “exploded” during lockdown, when he is believed to have killed Pavinya Nithiyakumar, aged 19 months, and three-year-old Nigish Nithiyakumar.
The shopworker reportedly then turned the knife on himself – but due to his condition, is yet to be formally interviewed by police.
Heartbroken mum Nisha found her toddler son, Nigish, in the bathroom gasping for breath after the horror on Sunday night, athirvu reports.
In a double tragedy, she then discovered one-year-old daughter Pavinya stabbed to death in her bed – just 90 minutes after Kumar had returned home from work as a shopkeeper.
She told the Mail: “I was in the bathroom and could hear one of my children vomiting.
“I rushed into the bedroom and when I saw them covered in blood, just started screaming. I was shouting ‘what have you done to them, what has happened?’
“I rushed to the fridge to get some ice because I could see that my son had a deep cut to his neck. Blood was gushing out of it. I ran back into the bedroom and started applying the ice to his neck. He was barely able to breathe and was wheezing heavily.
“My daughter was not moving at all. There was blood all around her. All I could think about was how to save them.”
She then dashed into the bathroom and called 999.
Horrified neighbours heard “tortured” screams as Nisha ran into the street shouting: “Help me…it’s my children”.
Cops then brought out the baby girl in a tiny body bag from the flat as paramedics desperately tried to revive her brother on the street with CPR.
Nigish was taken to hospital by air ambulance but later pronounced dead.
Stunned witnesses told how the children’s traumatised mother was led away screaming by police.
She is currently staying with her sister Rajani in West London.
Local Intisar Ahmed said: “I heard a horrible screaming and went outside to see what was happening.
“I saw emergency services take the little boy outside and lay him on the footpath and give him CPR. My friend said he was covered in blood.”
Kumar and his wife originally came from Sri Lanka and moved into the flat just over a year ago but had been rowing recently due to the lockdown.
He was employed at a convenience store near his home and spent the day working there before leaving at around 4.30pm to return to his family.
His employer, Shanmugatha Thevadurai, 54, said “Everything was normal. Nithi was a wonderful man and a loyal worker.
“He opened the shop at 9am, worked a normal day and made me tea shortly before he left.
“He had been telling me how his wife was not happy that he was still going out to work in the lockdown.
“There were four of them in a tiny, cramped flat and I think things just got too much for him

an Francisco newlyweds stuck on honeymoon in Sri Lanka

A couple from San Francisco are stuck on their honeymoon in Sri Lanka as a result of the coronavirus, NBC Bay Area reported.
San Francisco newlyweds John and are in the midst of an unforgettable honeymoon, just not the one they had been dreaming about.
Limited flight options amid the coronavirus pandemic have left them stranded in Sri Lanka, unaware of when they might be able to return home.
Their planned adventure to Thailand and Sri Lanka, complete with world-class surf beaches and a safari, has now become an unusual and prolonged endurance test for the newly married couple.
“We’re actually calling it a ‘supermoon now,” jokes Michelle, who was supposed to fly back home to San Francisco with her husband three weeks ago. “It’s definitely been a rollercoaster.”
John and Michelle were already well into their honeymoon by the time San Francisco and five other Bay Area counties enacted their stay-at-home orders in an effort to halt the spread of COVID-19. The couple got married in Southern California on March 6. Two days later, they traveled to Thailand for the first stretch of their vacation. They then flew to Sri Lanka on March 16. It wasn’t until the next day when six Bay Area counties enacted those stay-at-home orders.
Two days after landing in Sri Lanka, John and Michelle learned their plane tickets home to San Francisco had been cancelled.
The Sri Lankan government has since began imposing irregular curfews that can last for days. People are only allowed to leave their homes for a few hours at a time, leading to incredibly long lines at area shops. Simply buying groceries can now be a full-day ordeal.
“There have been a lot of times where John has had to hold me and say, ‘hey, we’re gonna be okay.’ And I don’t totally believe him, but I kind of have to because I have no other choice,” said Michelle. “I only have one person in this entire country that I can really lean on,” she said, looking at her new husband
A couple from San Francisco are stuck on their honeymoon in Sri Lanka as a result of the coronavirus, NBC Bay Area reported.
San Francisco newlyweds John and are in the midst of an unforgettable honeymoon, just not the one they had been dreaming about.
Limited flight options amid the coronavirus pandemic have left them stranded in Sri Lanka, unaware of when they might be able to return home.
Their planned adventure to Thailand and Sri Lanka, complete with world-class surf beaches and a safari, has now become an unusual and prolonged endurance test for the newly married couple.
“We’re actually calling it a ‘supermoon now,” jokes Michelle, who was supposed to fly back home to San Francisco with her husband three weeks ago. “It’s definitely been a rollercoaster.”
John and Michelle were already well into their honeymoon by the time San Francisco and five other Bay Area counties enacted their stay-at-home orders in an effort to halt the spread of COVID-19. The couple got married in Southern California on March 6. Two days later, they traveled to Thailand for the first stretch of their vacation. They then flew to Sri Lanka on March 16. It wasn’t until the next day when six Bay Area counties enacted those stay-at-home orders.
Two days after landing in Sri Lanka, John and Michelle learned their plane tickets home to San Francisco had been cancelled.
The Sri Lankan government has since began imposing irregular curfews that can last for days. People are only allowed to leave their homes for a few hours at a time, leading to incredibly long lines at area shops. Simply buying groceries can now be a full-day ordeal.
“There have been a lot of times where John has had to hold me and say, ‘hey, we’re gonna be okay.’ And I don’t totally believe him, but I kind of have to because I have no other choice,” said Michelle. “I only have one person in this entire country that I can really lean on,” she said, looking at her new husband

European Union provides EUR 22 million grant to Sri Lanka

The European Union (EU) has provided a EUR 22 million grant to Sri Lanka to tackle the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The European Union and its Member States are working with partners around the world to combat the coronavirus pandemic and mitigate the effects of the crisis.
The EU’s response follows a ‘Team Europe’ approach, aimed at saving lives by providing quick and targeted support. This includes improving the preparedness for and response to the outbreak, and funding research to support the development of coronavirus vaccines and medication to help those affected.
Issuing a press release, the EU said Sri Lanka’s very low number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far is impressive. To support Sri Lankan efforts further, the European Union is targeting three sectors: health, agriculture and tourism.
For health, the EU will be providing EUR 2 million for equipment and medical supplies to be procured by the World Health Organisation and to strengthen laboratory networks in the country. Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector will benefit from EUR 16.5 million funding. In these trying times, maintaining open trade and safeguarding the supply chains, especially agricultural and health supply chains, is essential to the well-being of the population. This funding will take into account the impact of Covid-19 by mobilising more private capital in rural areas and by assisting small businesses and workers in the Uva and Central Provinces, it said.
Finally, the European Union will support the Sri Lankan tourism industry with a EUR 3.5 million grant, in particular the smaller operators and their employees.
Some of the assistance will be provided immediately and the rest will be delivered later in the year and will continue thereafter, the press release read.
The EU went on to say the decisions were discussed during a meeting between the EU Delegation, the Ambassadors of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Task Force Chair Basil Rajapaksa on 08 April 2020, during which they also commended the Government of Sri Lanka for the close cooperation in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of its citizens and European tourists.
The Ambassadors of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and the EU Delegation said “We are impressed with the low number of cases in Sri Lanka so far. The European Union and its Member States are looking at the best way to support these efforts, and have mobilised EUR 15.6 billion overall to tackle the consequences of COVID-19, and to improve preparedness further. It is only together that we can fight the spread of coronavirus and alleviate its human and economic consequences around the world.”

Muslim organisations in Sri Lanka concerned over ‘hate mongering’

A group of Muslim organisations in Sri Lanka have sought immediate investigation and urgent action on “the continued hate-mongering against the Muslim community”, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hindu newspaper reported.
In a letter addressed to the acting Inspector General of Police, the organisations cited social media posts and audio recordings in circulation that, they said, violated laws on hate speech.
“It is also important to investigate whether any organised group is supporting, aiding and abetting the spread of racial and religious hatred to destabilise the country at a time when the government’s fullest attention is on controlling and eliminating the deadly COVID-19 here in Sri Lanka,” said the letter dated April 12, and signed by organisations, including the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka and the Colombo District Mosques’ Federation.
The letter refers to appeals made by anonymous persons in the audio clips, urging the public to refrain from making purchases from Muslim-run businesses, while accusing the community of trying to spread the coronavirus. The “racist appeals”, the organisations said, were similar to those circulated ahead of earlier instances of violence targeting the community in 2018 in the central Digana town, and soon after the Easter terror attacks last April.
Muslims have already raised concern over Sri Lanka making cremation compulsory for COVID-19 victims, as it goes against their beliefs.

සමාජ මාධ්‍ය කලඹවන මුස්ලිම් ජාතිකයෙකු ආදාහනය කිරීමේ කතාව

පසුගිය (30) මිගමුව ප්‍රදේශයෙන් වාර්තා වූ කොරෝනා වෛරසය හේතුවෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මියගිය දෙවන පුද්ගලයා ආදාහනය කිරීමත් සමඟ විරෝධතා එල්ල විය. ඒ එලෙස මියගිය පුද්ගලයා මුස්ලිම් ජාතිකයෙකු වූ බැවින් ඔහුව ආදාහනය කිරීම නිසාය.
මෙරට තුල කොරෝනා වෛරස ව්‍යාප්තිය අවම කිරීම සඳහා සෞක්‍ය අංශ සහ ආරක්ෂක අංශ අසීමිත කැපකිරීමක් සිදුකරන මොහොතක මුස්ලිම් ජාතිකයන් ආදාහනය කිරීම අගමානුකුල නොවන බව පවසමින් මුස්ලිම් දේශපාලඥයින් කිහිප දෙනෙකු සහ ආගමික නායකයන් යැයි හඳුන්වන පිරිසක් විසින් ප්‍රකාශ නිකුත් කරමින් විරෝදය දක්වා ඇති අයුරු සමාජ මාධ්‍ය හරහා දැක ගැනීමට හැකි විය.
මේ පිළිබදව Boston  අප සමස්ත ලංකා ඉස්ලාමීය විද්වතුන්ගේ සම්මේලනයේ තරුණ අංශයේ සම්බන්ධීකාරක නුස්රත් නව්ෆල් හක්කානි මව්ලවිතුමා ගෙන විමසීමු.
මව්ලවිතුමා පැවසුවේ ඔහුට කිසිදු දේශපාලනයක් නොමැති බවත් නමුත් එම දේහය ආදාහනය කිරීම සම්බන්දයෙන් කණගාටුවක් ඇති බවත්ය.
කෙසේ වෙතත් කොරෝනා ආසාධිතයන්ගේ අවසන් කටයුතු සියල්ල සිදුවන්නේ සෞඛ්‍ය අංශ උපදෙස් මත බව තමන් ඒ බව තමා හමුවුණු මුස්ලිම්වරුන්ට ද ප්‍රකාශ කල බව ද යුද හමුදාපති ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා මහතා පැවසිය.
ඒ අනුව උලමාවරුන්ගේ සභාව මේ පිළිබදව ජනාධිපති සහ අගමැති සමඟ සාකච්ජා කල බවත් එහිදී මුස්ලිම් ආගමික චාරිත්‍ර වලට අනුව සිදු කල යුතු පිරිසිදුකිරීම් වස්ත්‍ර ගැන්වීම් සිදු නොකළ යුතු බවටත් නමුත් භූමිදානය කිරීමට එකඟ වූ බවත් මව්ලවි නව්ෆල් පැවසීය.  ලෝක සෞක්‍ය සංවිධානය භූමිදානය කිරීමට අනුමැතිය ලබා දී ඇති බවද මතක් කරමින් මව්ලවි නව්ෆල්  මෙසේද වැඩි දුරටත් පැවසිය.
ඉහත කාරණය පිලිබදව මුස්ලීම් සමාජය කම්පනයට පත් වීම සාධාරණයි ද යන්න කිසිම දේශපාලන හෝ වෙනත් වුවමනාවකින් තොරව විග්‍රහ කිරීමට කැමැත්තෙමි. පළමුව යම් හෝ මරණයකදී ඊට අවසන් කටයුතු කිරීම ඉස්ලාමය තුළ ආගමික වතාවක් ලෙස සලකනු ලබයි. එනම් මුස්ලිම්වරයෙකු නැමදීම, උපවාසකිරීම, සzකාත් හෙවත් වාර්ෂික වරිය ඉටුකිරීම, හජ් වන්දනාවට යෑම යනාදී ආගමික වතාවන් ලෙස සලකනවා සේම මරණයකදී ඒ මරණයට පත් වූ පුද්ගලයාට අවසන් කටයුතු කිරීමද ආගමික වතාවක් ලෙස සලකනු ලබයි. යම් පුද්ගලයකු මරණයට පත්වීමේදී එම පුද්ගලයා වෙනුවෙන් කලයුතු ප්‍රධාන වගකීම් හතරක් මුස්ලිම් සමාජයට පවරනු ලබයි. එනම් :
*1. ස්නානය කරවීම.*
*2. කෆන් හෙවත් වස්ත්‍රයක් ඇන්ද වීම.*
*3. මරණ සලාතය හෙවත් නැමදුම ඉටුකිරීම.*
*4. භූමිදානය කිරීම.*
ඉහත කරුණු හතරම සාමාන්‍ය මරණයකදී අනිවාර්යෙන් මුස්ලිම්වරු කළ යුතුමයි. නමුත් කොවිඩ්19 වැනි භයානක රෝගයක් ආසාදනය වී යම් හෝ පුද්ගලයෙකු මරණයට පත්වේ නම් සෞඛ්‍ය අංශයේ සහ වෛද්‍ය උපදෙස් මත අවසන් කටයුතු කිරීමේ ක්‍රමය තීරණය වේ. ඒ අනුව ඔවුන්ගේ නිර්දේශයට අනුව ඉහත කරුණු හතරින් යම් හෝ දෙයක් කිරීමට නොහැකි තත්ත්වයක් පවතින්නේ නම් එය අත්හැර අනෙකුත් වගකීම් ඉටු කිරීම අනිවාර්ය වේ. කොවිඩ්19 මරණයකදී ස්නානය කරවීම කිසිදු  විදිහකින් කළ නොහැකි කරුණක් බව සෞඛ්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රය පහදා දී ඇත. ඒ අනුව එය කිරීම අනිවාර්ය නොවනු ඇත. දෙවැනි කරුණ වන කෆන් හෙවත්  වස්ත්‍රයක් ඇන්ද වීම ද මෙම රෝගයේ භයානකත්වයට අනුව නිර්දේශිත ක්‍රමයක් පවතී, එයද මුස්ලිම්වරුන්ගේ වගකීමෙන් බැහැරව යයි. තෙවැනි සහ සිව්වෙනි කරුණු කිරීමට කිසිදු නිර්දේශිත බාධකයක් නොතිබීම හරහා එය අනිවාර්ය වනු ඇත. තෙවෙනි වගකීම වන නැමදුම ඉටුකිරීමට ද තිදෙනෙකු පමණක් ඉදිරිපත් වීම ප්‍රමාණවත් වේ. ඊට අමතරව විශාල පිරිසක් එකතු විය යුතු නොවේ.
සිව්වැනි සහ අවසන් වගකීම වන භූමිදානය සඳහා කිසිදු බාධකයක් නොතිබෙන අවස්ථාවකදී එය අනිවාර්යෙන් කළ යුතුව තිබේ. ඊට අමතරව ආදාහනය කිරීමට කිසිසේත්ම නොහැක. කොවිඩ්19 මරණයකදී ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය හා වෛද්‍ය සංගමය (මෙම ලියන මාර්තු 31 වෙනි දින දක්වා) යන සියලු පාර්ශ්වයන්ගේ නිර්දේශය වනුයේ ආදාහනය කිරීම හෝ ක්‍රමානුකූල භූමිදානය කිරීමට හැකි යන්නයි. එනම් ආදාහනය කිරීම පමණක් නොවේ, මෙසේ භුමිදානය කිරීමට අනුමැතිය තියෙන අවස්ථාවකදී අනිවාර්යෙන්ම මුස්ලිම්වරු ඒ වගකීම කළ යුතුමයි. ඒ කටයුත්ත සඳහා වෛද්‍ය අංශයෙන් නියම කරනු ලබන පිරිසක් මැදිහත්වීම ප්‍රමාණවත් වේ.
ඉහත කරුණු හරහා මුස්ලිම්වරුන්ගේ කම්පනය සහ පීඩනය සාධාරණයි යන්න වටහාගත හැකි යැයි විශ්වාස කරන්නෙමි. ඊට අමතරව මෙවන් කරුණු කාරණා දේශපාලන උවමනාවකට හෝ ජාතිවාදී හැඟීමක් ඇති කිරීමට උපයෝගී කරගන්නවා යැයි හැඟෙන පරිදි කටයුතු කිරීමත් කිසිසේත්ම ලංකා මාතාවට සුභදායී කරුණක් නොවේ. එම නිසා මෙම කටයුත්ත ගැන විවෘත දෑසින් බලා විද්‍යාත්මකව තහවුරු කර ඇති ආකාරයට නිසි ක්‍රමානුකූල භූමිදානය හෝ ආදාහනය යන දෙකම තුළින් මෙම කොවිඩ්19 වෛරසය පැතිරයාම වළක්වා ගත හැකි යැයි තහවුරුවී ජාත්‍යන්තර රෙගුලාසි ද ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙමින් මහා බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය, අමෙරිකාව, ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාව, සිංගප්පූරුව, ඉන්දියාව වැනි බොහෝ රටවල එම තීරණ ගෙන තිබියදී මේ ගැන විවෘත දෑසින් සොයාබලා තීරණයක් ගැනීමට ඔබගේ දායකත්වය ලබා දෙන ලෙස සියලුම වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරීන්ගෙන් හා බලධාරීන්ගෙන් ඉතාමත්ම ආදරයෙන් හා ගෞරවයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමි.
අශන්ති වරුණසුරිය

UN troubled over release of convicted Sri Lankan soldier

The United Nations is concerned over the release of a convicted soldier in Sri Lanka.
Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that the High Commissioner is troubled by reports that the convicted perpetrator of the Mirusuvil massacre, in Sri Lanka, has received a Presidential Pardon and was released from jail this week.
Former Army sergeant Sunil Ratnayake was sentenced in 2015 for the murder in 2000 of eight civilians, including a five-year-old child, after more than a decade long trial.
Five defendants were brought to trial but only Sgt Ratnayake was convicted. The conviction was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in May 2019.
This was one of the rare human rights case from the decades long conflict that had ever reached conviction.
Colville said the Presidential pardon is an afront to victims and yet another example of the failure of Sri Lanka to fulfil its international human rights obligations to provide meaningful accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other gross violations of human rights.
He said that victims of such violations and crimes have the right to a remedy and this includes equal and effective access to justice and reparation, and that perpetrators serve a punishment that is proportionate to the seriousness of their conduct.
Colville said that pardoning one of the sole convicted perpetrators of atrocities committed during the Sri Lankan conflict further undermines the limited progress the country has made towards ending impunity for mass human rights abuse

Party leaders meet and discuss situation in the country

Political party leaders met and discussed the situation in the country today.
The meeting took place at Temple Trees on an invitation extended by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Former Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian M.A Sumanthiran said that the issue of reconvening Parliament was raised at the Party Leaders’ Meeting by him and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauf Hakeem.
“I said that it was not necessary to meet physically in one place but that it was important to have an active Parliament so that feedback from the people are received and for better accountability. We may also need to pass legislation re. Election etc. mode of meeting can be decided on later,” he said.
Sumanthiran said in a Facebook post that there was no response to this suggestion but there was somewhat of a favourable response to his suggestion that Party Leaders at least meet regularly, though not physically.
The party leaders sat keeping a distance between them while some wore face masks

US donates protective gear to Sri Lanka to fight COVID-19

U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B. Teplitz presented a donation of Dupont Tyvek coveralls, nitrile gloves, heavy duty work gloves, boot covers, and cleaning supplies to Major General (Rtd) GA Chandrasiri, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka, at Bandaranaike International Airport on behalf of the American people.

The equipment will help protect airport personnel and prevent the spread of COVID-19.  The donation is part of U.S. efforts to assist Sri Lanka.

“We stand in solidarity with Sri Lanka as both our countries battle this global pandemic,” said Ambassador Teplitz.  “Whatever the challenges, we’re ready to face them with Sri Lanka.”

The United States has pledged to spend up to $100 million in existing funds to combat the COVID-19 internationally, demonstrating continued U.S. leadership in the global fight against infectious diseases.

“This commitment – along with the hundreds of millions generously donated by the American private sector –demonstrates strong U.S. leadership in response to the outbreak,” U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said when he announced the assistance.
In February, U.S. organizations donated more than 2 million respirator masks, 11,000 protective suits and 280,000 pairs of nitrile gloves to China, where the virus originated.

US woman sentenced for enslaving Sri Lankan woman

A North Jersey woman in the US was sentenced to prison for forcing a Sri Lankan woman to work as a nanny and housekeeper in her homes for almost a decade without pay, US Media reported.
A federal judge in Camden on Tuesday sentenced the woman to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison.
Alia Imad Faleh Al Hunaity, a.k.a. Alia Al Qaternah, 44, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Jordan, had brought the victim, a Sri Lankan national, to the United States on a temporary visa in 2009 to perform domestic work.
Hunaity caused the victim to overstay her visa and remain in the United States illegally for more than nine years, federal prosecutors have said.
Hunaity, a cancer research scientist, was convicted by a federal jury in Camden in May on charges of forced labor, alien harboring for financial gain, and marriage fraud.
She had forced the victim to cook and clean her homes in Woodland Park and Secaucus and to care for her three children, all without pay, prosecutors have said.
In 2018, Hunaity forced the woman to marry her so that the woman could obtain legal residence and continue to work for her, authorities have said.
This case “began with lies from the defendant to the victim about coming to the United States” for a better life, U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler said Tuesday.
Instead, Hunaity “never paid the victim a penny,” took $4,000 from the woman, and told her not to speak to other children’s parents so they wouldn’t know she was in the U.S. illegally, the judge said.
Hunaity also “forced the victim into a sham marriage” with Hunaity that brought the victim shame, Kugler said

US court clears way for fresh case on Gotabaya over Lasantha’s killing

A US court has cleared the way for slain journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge’s daughter Ahimsa Wickrematunge to file a fresh case against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa when he is no longer President and is not entitled to immunity.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Ahimsa Wickrematunge’s request to vacate a lower court’s ruling that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is entitled to common law foreign official immunity for acts committed while he was Secretary of Defense of Sri Lanka.
Ahimsa’s lawsuit, filed last April, sought to hold Rajapaksa – now the president of Sri Lanka – responsible for his alleged involvement in the assassination of her father, famed journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge, and in the widespread and systematic targeting of journalists perceived to critical of the government.
Ahimsa is represented by the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals also granted Ahimsa’s request to dismiss her case without prejudice, as Rajapaksa’s accession to the presidency of Sri Lanka last November gave him immunity from suits in US courts for so long as he remains president. The Ninth Circuit’s decision clears the way for future litigation against Rajapaksa once he no longer enjoys immunity as a head of state.
“This ruling is a victory, and a message to Gotabaya Rajapaksa: His maneuvers to escape justice  for his role in my father’s assassination continue to fail. He will not enjoy immunity forever, and his presidency can only delay, not prevent, accountability. Those of us who lost everything to his barbarism and bloodshed will never give up our fight for justice,” says Ahimsa Wickrematunge.
“Lasantha’s killing was neither authorized nor ratified by the Sri Lankan government, and the violent targeting of journalists should never be considered legitimate acts of state,” said CJA Legal Director Carmen Cheung. “We are pleased that Ahimsa will have the opportunity to bring her case again.”
“The Ninth Circuit correctly vacated the lower court’s decision when Ahimsa’s appeal could no longer be heard, because of Rajapaksa’s newly acquired immunity. We are pleased that this decision gives Ahimsa another chance at justice for her father.” says Natalie Reid of Debevoise & Plimpton.