Amnesty barristers to argue case for 26 accused in Rajiv trial
Amnesty International has agreed to depute two barristers from London to appear
before the Supreme Court and argue for the acquittal of the 26 accused who have been
sentenced to death in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, according to S Doraisamy,
counsel for the accused. Doraisamy, who returned to Chennai last week after a month-long
tour of the European countries to raise funds for the 26 accused to appeal against their
sentence, said on Saturday that besides Amnesty, the International Bar Association in
Norway had also agreed to provide the services of a barrister and arrange for
international observers to be present in the apex court during the hearing. The save 26
Tamil Lives from Death Sentence Organisation formed by Tamil leader P Nedumaran, would
seek permission from the Bar Association of India for the appearance of the barristers in
the case, he added. Doraisamy said he held discussion with Emma Blower and Sangeetha Anuja
of the Asian team of Amnesty international in London and urged them to request the Indian
government to delete the death penalty provision from the statute. He also requested them
to provide financial assistance to the tune of Rs 50 lakh to meet the expenses for the
case. On the progress of the case now pending before the apex court, he said the Madras
High Court, on a directive from the apex court, had completed the translation of nearly 6
lakh pages of documents from Tamil to English. The case would come up for hearing on
Monday and after completion of arguments, the final order was expected to be passed by the
end of this year, he said. (India Today-12/07/98)
Kfirs attack Tiger bases The Defence Ministry in press release said that in the early hours of yesterday South of
Thoppigala in Batticaloa district, Kfir ground attack aircraft of the Air Force accurately
engaged two identified terrorist locations, a command post and a well established terrorist
training camp.(The Daily News-16/07/98)
Indian Fishermen in Sri Lankan custody get Rs 50 per day Families of fishermen from Tamil Nadu,
who were taken into custody by the Sri Lankan Navy,
would be paid 50 rupees per day till the fishermen
returned to India.(The Indian Express-15/07/98)
Amnesty barristers to argue case for 26 accused in Rajiv trial Amnesty International has agreed to depute two barristers from London to
appear before the Supreme Court and argue for the acquittal of the 26 accused
who have been sentenced to death in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case,
according to S Doraisamy, counsel for the accused. Doraisamy, who returned
to Chennai last week after a month-long tour of the European countries to raise
funds for the 26 accused to appeal against their sentence, said on Saturday
that besides Amnesty, the International Bar Association in Norway had also
agreed to provide the services of a barrister and arrange for international
observers to be present in the apex court during the hearing. The save 26 Tamil
Lives from Death Sentence Organisation formed by Tamil leader P Nedumaran,
would seek permission from the Bar Association of India for the appearance of
the barristers in the case, he added. Doraisamy said he held discussion with
Emma Blower and Sangeetha Anuja of the Asian team of Amnesty international
in London and urged them to request the Indian government to delete the death
penalty provision from the statute. He also requested them to provide financial
assistance to the tune of Rs 50 lakh to meet the expenses for the case. On the
progress of the case now pending before the apex court, he said the Madras
High Court, on a directive from the apex court, had completed the translation of
nearly 6 lakh pages of documents from Tamil to English. The case would come
up for hearing on Monday and after completion of arguments, the final order was
expected to be passed by the end of this year, he said.
(India Today-12/07/98)
Hameed, Anura, 8 others on their way to join PA Government- UNP split on religious ground As eight senior members of the United National Party's leadership, including former party Chairman and one-time Foreign Minister Mr. A. C. Shahul Hameed MP and Mr. Anura Bandaranaike MP, are to be ousted from the party
Working Committee, they will be considering rejoining SLFP, sources close to the dissident group said yesterday. First time in the political history of Sri Lanka, a political party is divided on the basis of religious ground, Buddhist on one side and Christians on the other.More News(The Sunday Observer-05/07/98)
Hameed, Anura, 8 others on their way to join PA Government- UNP split on religious ground As eight senior members of the United National Party's leadership, including former party Chairman and one-time Foreign Minister Mr. A. C. Shahul Hameed MP and Mr. Anura Bandaranaike MP, are to be ousted from the party
Working Committee, they will be considering rejoining SLFP, sources close to the dissident group said yesterday. First time in the political history of Sri Lanka, a political party is divided on the basis of religious ground, Buddhist on one side and Christians on the other.More News(The Sunday Observer-05/07/98)
Dr Mahathir attacks West Dr Mahathir was quoted as saying that the West had used its economic power to undermine the local currency and stock
market, while impoverishing Malaysians in its attempts to ``recolonise'' the country.
``When the enemy uses economic manipulation and currency trading as his tools to conquer a country, then it would be difficult to explain to the people.''
``We have to safeguard our political stability to prevent the West from taking away our independence through colonisation of our economy.''
(-04/07/98)
Troops storm Tiger positions Troops yesterday stormed LTTE positions at Kokkadicholai, Thikodai and Santhimalai
killing at least seven terrorists. Three Tiger political offices, two police stations and several other facilities had been
destroyed by the troops. Groups of terrorists had managed to escape carrying their dead
and the wounded. The military said that troops
stormed terrorist positions after trekking through jungles for several hours. The military reiterated that not a single civilian was wounded during the operation. Asked
whether air strikes were mounted in the Kokkadicholai and neighbouring areas a senior
officer replied in the negative.
"No air strikes were launched," he said.
(The Island-01/07/98)
No Viagra necessary in Sri Lanka as Lankans use 10.5m condoms per year Sri Lankans use approximately 10.5 million condoms and 1.8
million pills every year. Apart from the FPA and the private sector firms engaged in the
contraceptive trade, government's Family Health Bureau also plays a crucial role in
distributing both condoms and pills. However, Sildenafil,
the active ingredient in the hot-selling anti-impotency pill, Viagra, may not work in the subcontinent due to an unexplained genetic peculiarity: resistance to synthetic drugs.
In a bid to prevent sub standard condoms being marketed, the government has directed that
all contraceptive importers to register with the Health Ministry. Earlier there was intense
speculation that sub-standard condoms were being marketed by certain importers. Under
the new system all importers including the Family Planning Association [FPA] of Sri Lanka
which has the lion's share in the contraceptive market have been compelled to register with
the ministry.
(Sri Lanka News-01/07/98)
Passenger sues Canadian airline for Rs. 10 m in Sri Lanka Plaintiff S. S. Wijewardena, a passenger on a flight to Vancouver from Japan has filed a ten
million rupee suit in the Colombo District Court against Canadian Airline International Ltd., in
the District Court of Colombo for wrongful acts of commission and omission.(The Island-01/07/98)
