Indian RAW bugged my mobile phone – Gota blasts Etisalat CEO

Indian RAW bugged my mobile phone – Gota 

blasts Etisalat CEO

Monday, 01 July 2013 

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s has shouted at Duminda Rathnayake, the CEO of Etisalat Lanka mobile phone network saying that India’s intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is behind tapping his mobile phone.

When Duminda Rathnayake rejected the accusation and insisted that his network has taken every step to prevent phone hacking, the Defence Secretary has blasted him with filthy language.

He is of the opinion that Indian RAW is bugging his phone to gather information with regard to national security.

The accusation comes at a time Sinhala extremist groups supported and funded by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa are carrying out a massive propaganda campaign against 13th amendment to the constitution and provincial councils.

His brother, Basil, is to leave for Delhi on Thursday as President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s special envoy to discuss the situation with Indian authorities. In previous rounds, both Gotabhaya and President’s Secretary Lalith Weerathunga joined with Basil to brief Indian leaders.

The Defence Secretary, who holds both Sri Lankan and US nationality, is aware that US also employs similar methods to listen to telephone conversations but has not publicly commented about it. 

Male body found near school in Panadura

Male body found near school in Panadura MONDAY, 01 JULY 2013  A body of a male was found in a car near a leading school in Panadura this morning, police said. The victim was identified as a 40-year-old resident in Nugegoda. The cause of death was determined as strangulation, following a Postmortem examination carried out by the District Court doctor in Panadura. Investigations revealed that Devanarayana had been employed abroad and had returned to the country recently and that his wife was still employed aboard. His relatives who identified the body said he was suffering from diabetes and that he was not facing any personal problems as far as they knew. The body found lying in the driving seat was leaning against the passenger seat. The Panadura Chief Magistrate Ruchira Weliwatta who conducted the preliminary inquiry ordered JMO Panadura Dr. P.B.Dassanayake whose report confirmed that the victim had been strangled to death. Police investigations are going on. (Kusal Chamath) Pix by Pinsiri Perera

A criminals’ paradise

June 30, 2013

There’s apparently no agreement among scholars on the origin of the pithy saying, "The law is an ass", though the general consensus is that Dickens popularised it through Oliver Twist. Whoever really deserves the credit for that aphorism, one cannot think of a better metaphor to describe Sri Lanka’s legal system, which is obstinate, stupid, tardy, lazy and capable of kicking with both hind legs and even biting when the ordinary people are in trouble, seeking justice. But, surprisingly, it transmogrifies into a sturdy charger when the rich and the powerful happen to take recourse to it!

Children of the ordinary public get promptly arrested and prosecuted even for negligibly minor offences such as the theft of water pistols and loose change, but politicians who help themselves to public funds to the tune of millions of rupees and their sons who commit crimes such as assaulting military and police personnel and grabbing their weapons go scot free. When poor children join elders in mining sand in unauthorised areas, for want of a better alternative, to augment their parents’ meagre income, they are rounded up, taken to courts and separated from their families by being sent to juvenile rehabilitation centres, but politicians and their goons who commit heinous crimes such as murder, rape and arson easily get bail and continue to carry out their sordid operations and be a public nuisance!

On Saturday, the CID informed the Colombo Magistrate’s court that a case against Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Sampath Vidanapathirana (UPFA) and seven others allegedly involved in the killing of a British citizen named Khuram Shaikh and raping his girlfriend in 2011, had been transferred to Colombo from Tangalle on the Attorney General’s instructions as the suspects were threatening witnesses. The defendants have denied the allegation.

The case is now sub judice and, therefore, best left to the learned judges. But, how on earth could anyone claim that Colombo is safe for the witnesses who are threatened in Tangalle? The CID must be asked what action it has taken against the suspects to ensure the protection of the hapless witnesses. Shifting the case to Colombo cannot be considered a solution by any stretch of the imagination in that the ruling party politicians and their goon squads are capable of taking targets in any part of the country; the distance between Tangalle and Colombo is no barrier for them.

The absence of strong witness protection laws and the subservience of the police to the ruling party have stood criminals within the government ranks in good stead, and the prevailing culture of impunity has lent spurs to those anti-social elements. There are several ways in which thugs working for the government usually get away with their crimes. The police are made to hush up or botch up investigations; the witnesses are intimidated into recanting their statements or slanting evidence towards the defendants; the state prosecutor selectively withdraws cases; the judiciary is interfered with, and if all these measures fail and the criminals happen to get convicted by any chance, they are given presidential pardons.

The manner in which cases against government politicians, their family members and cronies are handled bolsters the Opposition’s argument for resurrecting the 17th Amendment to set up independent commissions for the police, the judiciary, elections, the public service etc.

The British government is justified in having expressed its deep disappointment over the tardy progress in the Khuram Shaikh case, though it needs to be asked what action it has taken against Adele Balasingham, who is comfortably living in London according to Lord Naseby in spite of her involvement in grave crimes against Sri Lankans such as massacres, blowing up civilian targets, political assassinations, recruiting child soldiers etc.

It looks as if the government were going full tilt to have the pariah status conferred on this country by giving its thugs free rein to assault, kill, maim, rape and rob people with impunity.

COURT ISSUES NOTICE ON PB

COURT ISSUES NOTICE ON PB

July 1, 2013 

Colombo High Court today issued notice on Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera to appear in Court on July 23 to give evidence in the VAT scam case. 

Colombo High Court judge Kumudhini Wickremasinghe ordered that the Treasury Secretary appear before the court while taking up the case this morning (July 1).

Furthermore, the court also ordered former Commissioner of Internal Revenue Department to appear before the court on that day.

The suspects who are already in remand over the VAT scam of Rs. 4 billion were presented at courts today.

‘Army Prasanna’ arrested MONDAY, 01 JULY 2013 A prominent underworld leader ‘Army Prasanna’ against whom five open warrants have been issued was arrested by the Kelaniya Police today and ordered to be remanded till July 5 by the Mahara Magistrate court. The suspect Hiran Prasanna Kumara alias Army Prasanna was arrested this evening over alleged robberies, thefts, smuggling of heroin and possession of weapons. Magistrate Dharshika Wimalasiri ordered the suspect to be produced before each court that had issued warrants against the suspect. Army Prasanna was assumed to have been dead and trials in which he was the accused were conducted ex- parte, until he was arrested today. (Dasun Rajapaksa) Five sentenced to death for murder Five persons found guilty of abducting and murdering a person, were sentenced to death by Moneragala High Court Judge Gihan Kulathunga today. The crime had been committed in October 2002. The accused were found guilty and after a lengthy trial were sentenced by Moneragala High Court Judge a shortwhile ago.(Nayanajeewa Bandara)

Sri Lanka: Winning The War But Not The Peace

By Ishtiaq Ahmed -July 1, 2013

Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed

The 30-year-old ethnic conflict in the Sri Lankan state, an essentially Sinhalese majoritarian preserve, and the uncompromising and relentlessly violent Tamil leadership claiming a separate state, Tamil Eelam, on behalf of the Tamil minority of north and east Sri Lanka, culminated with a comprehensive military defeat of the Tamil Tigers at the hands of the Sri Lankan military and paramilitary forces. However, it also turned out to be a terrible example of collective punishment for the Tamil minority. This is the tragedy that the political scientist, former political activist with a strong Marxist-humanist commitment and a Sri Lankan diplomat, who till recently was serving the UN in Geneva and France and UNESCO, analyses with courage and insight.

Sri Lanka Winning the War but Not the Peace by nelvely

Hong Kong holds democracy protest

Hong Kong holds democracy protest

By AP News Jul 01, 2013

HONG KONG (AP) — Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers took to the streets in protest Monday, demanding their widely disliked Beijing-backed leader resign and pressing for promised democratic reforms so they can choose their own top representative.

The annual protest march has become increasingly popular in recent years, underscoring the growing gulf between Hong Kong and the mainland 16 years after the city ceased to be a British colony and came back under Beijing’s control

Hong Kong Holds Democracy Protest by nelvely

President disturbed by the Norway ambassador’s marriage novegian ambassodor exclusiveThursday, 27 June 2013 President Mahinda Rajapaksa is displeased that the Norwegian government has sent a married lesbian lady as Norway’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, sources from Temple Trees said. The President has had a lengthy discussion on the matter with a group of Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS) representatives who had recently visited Temple Trees. The President has expressed his displeasure at the Norway ambassador’s private life during a discussion on the association between BBS and the Norway embassy. Norway’s ambassador to Sri Lanka is Grete Lochen. The President has told the BBS representatives that the Norwegian ambassador is a lesbian and that he had not permitted her partner legal entry to the country. “Our most venerable thero, that woman had asked the External Affairs Ministry to make arrangements to get down her lesbian partner. GL told me. Lesbian marriages are not legal in our country. Ambassadors could only get down their spouse and family members. Since lesbian marriages are not recognized in the country I asked GL not to permit the entry of such a person. Our women will also want to behave in this manner if we permit such actions. But she has now got down her lesbian partner to the country as a servant. Our Minister GL does not have the backbone to handle these issues. Well, how can he take action when boys are fighting in the ministry to share the minister? On one side there are lesbians and on the other there are the gays. Our Sinhala Buddhist identity would come to an end if we allow these actions. We must be strict like the Catholic church,” the President has said. When we inquired into the President’s allegation against the Norway ambassador, we found that she is legally married to her lesbian partner in Norway. Norway permits gay and lesbian marriages. Sri Lanka on the other hand does not recognize gay and lesbian marriages and even identifies homosexual activities as a crime. However, the danger is the attitude of the head of state towards these ancient beliefs. Monk remanded over killing June 30, 2013, 10:23 pm By Lalith Chaminda and S. K. Kaluarachci Galle correspondents Galle Magistrate U. S. Kalansuriya yesterday ordered a Buddhist monk, Ven. Pasgoda Upashasntha Thera, to be remanded till July 9 over the killing of a man. The victim, Saman Kumara Tillakatatne (44) of Hiriwalkumbura, Yakkalamulla had been attacked with a cricket bat and a brick allegedly by the monk, when he and a friend went to a temple in Labuduwa, Galle on Saturday to meet its Chief Incumbent. He succumbed to his injuries the following day at the Karapitiya hospital. According to the police, the chief incumbent had been away and the victim had got into an argument with the suspect monk over a movie the latter had been watching at that time. The injured man was first admitted to the Udugama hospital. The same night he was discharged but the following day he started bleeding from his mouth and nose and his relatives rushed him to the Udugama hospital from where he was transferred to the Karapitiya hospital. The victim had told his daughter before he was admitted to hospital a second time that was attacked by the suspect monk, according to the police. Akmeemana police recovered the bat and brick allegedly used in the attack and a blood stained robe from the monk’s chamber. Posted by Thavam

President disturbed by the Norway ambassador’s marriage

Thursday, 27 June 2013

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is displeased that the Norwegian government has sent a married lesbian lady as Norway’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, sources from Temple Trees said.

The President has had a lengthy discussion on the matter with a group of Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS) representatives who had recently visited Temple Trees. The President has expressed his displeasure at the Norway ambassador’s private life during a discussion on the association between BBS and the Norway embassy. Norway’s ambassador to Sri Lanka is Grete Lochen.

The President has told the BBS representatives that the Norwegian ambassador is a lesbian and that he had not permitted her partner legal entry to the country.
“Our most venerable thero, that woman had asked the External Affairs Ministry to make arrangements to get down her lesbian partner. GL told me. Lesbian marriages are not legal in our country. Ambassadors could only get down their spouse and family members. Since lesbian marriages are not recognized in the country I asked GL not to permit the entry of such a person. Our women will also want to behave in this manner if we permit such actions. But she has now got down her lesbian partner to the country as a servant. Our Minister GL does not have the backbone to handle these issues. Well, how can he take action when boys are fighting in the ministry to share the minister? On one side there are lesbians and on the other there are the gays. Our Sinhala Buddhist identity would come to an end if we allow these actions. We must be strict like the Catholic church,” the President has said.
When we inquired into the President’s allegation against the Norway ambassador, we found that she is legally married to her lesbian partner in Norway.
Norway permits gay and lesbian marriages. Sri Lanka on the other hand does not recognize gay and lesbian marriages and even identifies homosexual activities as a crime. However, the danger is the attitude of the head of state towards these ancient beliefs.

Monk remanded over killing

June 30, 2013, 10:23 pm 

By Lalith Chaminda and S. K. Kaluarachci 
Galle correspondents

Galle Magistrate U. S. Kalansuriya yesterday ordered a Buddhist monk, Ven. Pasgoda Upashasntha Thera, to be remanded till July 9 over the killing of a man.

The victim, Saman Kumara Tillakatatne (44) of Hiriwalkumbura, Yakkalamulla had been attacked with a cricket bat and a brick allegedly by the monk, when he and a friend went to a temple in Labuduwa, Galle on Saturday to meet its Chief Incumbent.

He succumbed to his injuries the following day at the Karapitiya hospital.

According to the police, the chief incumbent had been away and the victim had got into an argument with the suspect monk over a movie the latter had been watching at that time.

The injured man was first admitted to the Udugama hospital. The same night he was discharged but the following day he started bleeding from his mouth and nose and his relatives rushed him to the Udugama hospital from where he was transferred to the Karapitiya hospital.

The victim had told his daughter before he was admitted to hospital a second time that was attacked by the suspect monk, according to the police.

Akmeemana police recovered the bat and brick allegedly used in the attack and a blood stained robe from the monk’s chamber.

Thursday, 27 June 2013

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is displeased that the Norwegian government has sent a married lesbian lady as Norway’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, sources from Temple Trees said.

The President has had a lengthy discussion on the matter with a group of Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS) representatives who had recently visited Temple Trees. The President has expressed his displeasure at the Norway ambassador’s private life during a discussion on the association between BBS and the Norway embassy. Norway’s ambassador to Sri Lanka is Grete Lochen.

The President has told the BBS representatives that the Norwegian ambassador is a lesbian and that he had not permitted her partner legal entry to the country.
“Our most venerable thero, that woman had asked the External Affairs Ministry to make arrangements to get down her lesbian partner. GL told me. Lesbian marriages are not legal in our country. Ambassadors could only get down their spouse and family members. Since lesbian marriages are not recognized in the country I asked GL not to permit the entry of such a person. Our women will also want to behave in this manner if we permit such actions. But she has now got down her lesbian partner to the country as a servant. Our Minister GL does not have the backbone to handle these issues. Well, how can he take action when boys are fighting in the ministry to share the minister? On one side there are lesbians and on the other there are the gays. Our Sinhala Buddhist identity would come to an end if we allow these actions. We must be strict like the Catholic church,” the President has said.
When we inquired into the President’s allegation against the Norway ambassador, we found that she is legally married to her lesbian partner in Norway.
Norway permits gay and lesbian marriages. Sri Lanka on the other hand does not recognize gay and lesbian marriages and even identifies homosexual activities as a crime. However, the danger is the attitude of the head of state towards these ancient beliefs.

Monk remanded over killing

June 30, 2013, 10:23 pm 

By Lalith Chaminda and S. K. Kaluarachci
Galle correspondents

Galle Magistrate U. S. Kalansuriya yesterday ordered a Buddhist monk, Ven. Pasgoda Upashasntha Thera, to be remanded till July 9 over the killing of a man.

The victim, Saman Kumara Tillakatatne (44) of Hiriwalkumbura, Yakkalamulla had been attacked with a cricket bat and a brick allegedly by the monk, when he and a friend went to a temple in Labuduwa, Galle on Saturday to meet its Chief Incumbent.

He succumbed to his injuries the following day at the Karapitiya hospital.

According to the police, the chief incumbent had been away and the victim had got into an argument with the suspect monk over a movie the latter had been watching at that time.

The injured man was first admitted to the Udugama hospital. The same night he was discharged but the following day he started bleeding from his mouth and nose and his relatives rushed him to the Udugama hospital from where he was transferred to the Karapitiya hospital.

The victim had told his daughter before he was admitted to hospital a second time that was attacked by the suspect monk, according to the police.

Akmeemana police recovered the bat and brick allegedly used in the attack and a blood stained robe from the monk’s chamber.

The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant referendum issue in Taiwan

The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant referendum issue in Taiwan

By Michael Turton Jul 01, 2013 

Back in February the news broke that the Ma Administration had decided to allow a public referendum on the controversial Fourth Nuclear Plant, a contentious political issue for the better part of two decades in Taiwan. The news stunned the nation.

The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant under construction southeast of Taipei. Pic: Michael Turton.

Political observers, including many from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), currently the opposition party, were quick to point out the absurdity of the government’s position. 

The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant Referendum Issue in Taiwan by nelvely

Vatican bank cleric arrested in €20m corruption inquiry

Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, 61, accused of trying to help friends bring millions of euros into Italy from Switzerland by plane

Friday 28 June 2013 

A senior Vatican cleric suspected of trying to help rich friends bring millions of euros into Italy illegally has been arrested as part of an investigation into the Vatican bank.

Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, 61, who worked as a senior accountant in the Vatican's financial administration, is involved in another investigation by magistrates in southern Italy. He was arrested in a parish in the outskirts of Rome and taken to the city's Queen of Heaven jail, his lawyer, Silverio Sica, said. Also arrested in the investigation were a member of Italy's secret services and a financial broker.

Sica said Scarano was accused of being involved in an attempt to help friends bring €20m (£17m) into Italy from Switzerland by plane, in league with the secret service agent and a financial intermediary.

The lawyer, who had access to the charge sheet, said the money never left Switzerland. Detectives identified the secret service agent as Giovanni Zitto and the broker as Giovanni Carenzio. It was not clear what role the bank had, if any, in the latest developments.

A Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said Vatican authorities were willing to co-operate with the investigation, but had so far received no official request. He said the AIF, the Vatican's financial authority, was monitoring the case and would take action if necessary.

The Institute for Religious Works, the Vatican's bank. Photograph: AFP/Getty

The arrests came two days after the Vatican announced Pope Francis had set up a commission of inquiry into the bank, formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion, which has been hit by a numerous scandals over the years.

Scarano worked for years as a senior accountant for a Vatican department known as the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See. He was suspended from his duties several weeks ago when he was placed under investigation by magistrates in the southern city of Salerno, his home town.

In that inquiry, Sica said wealthy friends had donated money to Scarano to help him build a home for the terminally ill. According to the lawyer, his client wanted to use that money to pay off his mortgage so he could sell a property in Salerno and use the proceeds to construct the facility.

In an apparent attempt to cover his tracks, Scarano has been accused of taking €560,000 in cash out of his account in the Vatican bank a little at a time, usually €10,000 and giving it to friends who then gave him cheques. He deposited the cheques into a separate bank account to pay off the mortgage.

Vatican Rentboy and Satanism Claims Revealed by Paedophile Priest Don Patrizio Poggi

 

Serving and former priests hired rentboys for sex in churches from pimp who sold consecrated hosts to satanists, says defrocked clergyman.

By UMBERTO BACCHI: Subscribe to Umberto's RSS feed | June 27, 2013 11:35 AM GMT

The Vatican has denied Don Patrizio Poggi’s allegations over the existence of an underage prostitution ring (Reuters)

Italian investigators have opened an inquiry into claims by a convicted paedophile priest that an underage prostitution ring has been operating inside the Holy Roman Church with clergymen hiring rentboys for sex inside churches.

Vatican Rentboy and Satanism Claims Revealed by Paedophile Priest Don Patrizio Poggi by nelvely