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The United National Party (UNP) has filed a police complaint over a forged document that claimed to include the contents of a deal between the UNP and Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

The said document is being circulated widely on social media with the forged signatures of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and TNA leader R. Sampanthan.

UNP MP S.M. Marikkar has lodged the complaint at the police headquarters today.

The Court of Appeal on Wednesday postponed until next month the hearing of a petition restraining Mahinda Rajapaksa and his purported government from functioning amidst a political crisis that erupted after the sacking of premier Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

122 MPs from the United National Party (UNP), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) filed a Writ of Quo Warranto questioning the legitimacy of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his 'purported' Cabinet.

The Appeal Court ordered to hear the petition on January 16, 17 and 18.

MP Udaya Gammanpila says that the UPFA is ready to leave the role of government. Speaking to media after the Supreme Court’s verdict was delivered, he made this statement. 

“We are ready to leave. Ranil Wickremesinghe has had the opportunity to work as the Prime Minister for the fifth time,” he added.

He further said that the UPFA MP group will meet at 7 pm today (13) to discuss further actions.

A babysitter who sexually abused two seven-year-old boys in Perth has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison and is likely to be deported to Sri Lanka after serving his term.

Dayanthan Stanley Mohanraj, 19, was convicted after a trial of four counts of sexually penetrating a child in 2016, when he was babysitting on a casual basis.

Stanley Mohanraj showed one boy pornography and later sexually abused the child in a public toilet, then threatened to kill him if he told his parents what happened.

He separately abused the same boy in a playroom and on another day attacked both children while they were playing, telling them to keep it a secret, the West Australian District Court heard on Tuesday.

Judge Vicki Stewart said Stanley Mohanraj lacked remorse and was unwilling to accept responsibility for his offending against two vulnerable children (file photo) 

Judge Vicki Stewart said Stanley Mohanraj lacked remorse and was unwilling to accept responsibility for his offending against two vulnerable children, which involved a serious breach of trust.

'You took advantage of these two young boys. This is abuse of the most serious kind,' she said.

'You were in a position of authority. You were trusted to look after these children.

'You made comments to each boy to secure their silence.'

Stanley Mohanraj came to Australia from Sri Lanka in 2012, but his family's refugee status has been rejected and they are in the process of appealing in the Federal Court.

He must serve at least three-and-a-half years behind bars before he can be eligible for parole and will then likely be deported.

Following the historic decision of the Supreme Court today which ruled that the gazette dissolving parliament as unconstitutional, President Maithripala Sirisena accepting defeat after failing to engineer a political coup is said to have requested an urgent meeting with the leaders of the United National Front (UNF).

The request had been made to MP Rauff Hakeem, Leader of the Muslim Congress which is part of the UNF. However, sources say the UNF has not responded to the President yet.

A special meeting was held between the Tamil National Alliance and President Maithripala Sirisena this morning.

According to political sources, Sirisena has requested the TNA to abstain from supporting the UNP motion to that is to be presented in parliament today to express confidence in ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

It is also reported that President Sirisena had promised to accede to all of TNA’s requests if they are loyal to him.  Sirisena had intimated that it was Wickremesinghe who was responsible for destroying the country and pointed out that the UNP leader was the one who had rejected all of Sirisena’s proposals with regard to the devolution of power with the support of racist political parties.

It is also reported that the President had promised to release all Tamil prisoners, even tomorrow, if the TNA were to extend their support to him.

Sources also said that the TNA parliamentarians who attended the meeting had left without giving a response to the president’s requests.

The Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by the president to dismiss parliament and hold snap elections, extending a political crisis that has paralysed the island nation for more than six weeks.

The court in Colombo ruled that Maithripala Sirisena’s order to dismiss parliament, issued on 9 November, was unconstitutional.

The unanimous decision by the country’s top judges leaves Sri Lanka without a prime minister or cabinet, nor a 2019 budget in place. Lawmakers have warned that public sector employees could cease being paid from the beginning of next month.

The ruling extends an impasse that started on 26 October, when Sirisena suddenly announced he had dismissed the country’s prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Wickremesinghe declared the dismissal was an “undemocratic coup” and refused to vacate the prime ministerial residence for the man Sirisena appointed to replace him, the country’s former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa has been unable to rally enough MPs in the country’s parliament to confirm his premiership, and Sirisena has refused to reappoint Wickremesinghe, who he claims was stubborn, arrogant and allowed corruption to flourish.

Sirisena had tried calling an election to break the deadlock but after Thursday’s decision must continue negotiating with Wickremesinghe and other parliamentary leaders.

Fireworks could be heard in Colombo shortly after 5.15pm local time when the decision was announced.

Wickremesinghe said that they expect the President to respect the unanimous verdict."We trust that the President will promptly respect the judgment of the courts. The legislature, judiciary, and the executive are equally important pillars of a democracy and the checks and balances that they provide are crucial to ensuring the sovereignty of its citizens," he said.

The sudden appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister in October, and the ensuing constitutional crisis, means that human rights and guarantees of transitional justice may be in peril for the future, Amnesty International said. 

In its annual human rights report, Amnesty highlighted many positive developments in the country that were initiated by the former government before it was ousted by president Sirisena in late October coup. 

These included the long overdue setting up of the Office of Missing Persons, the passing of an Act to set up an Office of Reparations, and the return of some of the private land in the north that had been seized by the military. 

"In Sri Lanka, Sandhya Eknaligoda, a prominent campaigner for justice for families of the disappeared, who has endured years of hostility and smear campaigns, won an important court victory after a hardline Buddhist monk who had threatened her was imprisoned for six months. In September, President Maithripala Sirisena ordered the arrest of an army officer over the 2010 enforced disappearance of Sandhya’s husband, Prageeth Eknaligoda," Amnesty International said. 

However, with the political crisis showing no signs of coming to an end soon, independent observers are concerned on the effects it may have on the country's human rights and transitional justice mechanisms.

Veteran actor W. Jayasiri has denied accepting the once in a lifetime Kalabushana National Award from President Maithripala Sirisena. Posting on his social media page the actor announced his decision while going on to say “With great disgust, I refuse to attend or accept an award from a President who is gambling with the future of the country”.

The actor also said he is unconditionally partisan to any fight to protect democracy despite the political party.

Sri Lanka's ousted prime minister promised Monday to bring tens of thousands of supporters to the capital next week for a massive demonstration unless President Maithripala Sirisena reinstated him imminently.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose dismissal in October plunged Sri Lanka into crisis, said he still commanded the support of parliament and Sirisena had until Friday to recognise that.

Sri Lanka has been trapped in a bitter power feud since Sirisena replaced Wickremesinghe with Mahinda Rajapaksa, a controversial former strongman leader.

Parliament has twice voted against Rajapaksa but Sirisena has refused to reinstate his former ally Wickremesinghe -- even if he has the numbers on the floor.

The country's Supreme Court is ruling this week on whether Sirisena's sacking of parliament in November was unconstitutional.

Wickremesinghe -- who is confident of a ruling against Sirisena -- said tens of thousands of the party faithful would rally in Colombo if the president did not heed the court.

"After the court ruling, we will launch our "People Power' campaign to force the president to end the crisis," he said in a statement.

Wickremesinghe has cobbled together a majority in parliament, which has twice voted against Rajapaksa.

A court of appeal last week also stripped Rajapaksa and his cabinet of their authority until he could prove his right to hold office.

The war-era strongman, backed by the president, has ignored parliament, and has named a cabinet and assumed the duties of prime minister.

But the 225-member legislature has blocked his office from spending any funds, worsening the acrimony between the factions.

The chamber has witnessed violence in recent weeks as the power struggle dragged on, with brawls between warring sides.

Last week, Wickremesinghe likened Sirisena to Hitler, his strongest comment yet directed at his former ally.

Sri Lanka Parliament passed a Vote of Confidence today stating that UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe commands the confidence of Parliament to function as Prime Minister. 117 MPs supported the motion.

The motion of confidence was submitted by UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa. UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera seconded the motion. 

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe thanked everyone who supported the confidence motion and added that it was the duty of all political parties to respect the Constitutional provisions.

Meanwhile, members of the UPFA boycotted today’s Parliamentary session.

A 36-year-old Sri Lankan housemaid in Bahrain has claimed that she was tortured and forced into prostitution for almost two years, the Gulf Daily News reported on Monday.

The victim says she survived only on bread and was made to sleep with up to 20 men every day.

A 40-year-old Bangladeshi is facing charges including forcing the victim into prostitution, holding her against her will, theft, assault and operating an illegal vice network.

His alleged accomplice, a 43-year-old Sri Lankan woman, is still at large and being tried in absentia.

The victim told investigators that she had been tricked by the defendants, who allegedly promised to help her find employment and provided shelter at an apartment.

“The 43-year-old called some Asian men and demanded I have sex with them. When I refused she took my money, Bahrain Dinar (BD) 100, my phone, a gold necklace and three gold rings and threatened to beat me if I didn’t comply. When the men came in I was forced to sleep with them out of fear of my captors. When I refused the 43-year-old would beat me up, punch me and pull my hair. She would also use pepper, water and salt and burn my private parts to torture me. I did their bidding for two years because I was afraid and, if I refused, they would assault me,” the victim said in her statement to prosecutors.

The woman said clients paid anywhere between BD7 and BD30 to have sex with her, but the cash was pocketed by her alleged captors.
“I would plead with customers to help me, but none of them did,” she said.

“When the 43-year-old heard this she would beat me even more.

“I tried to escape many times, but I failed and I would get beaten for my attempts.”

However, she said she seized her chance to escape in July when another woman, from Indonesia, entered the apartment where she was being held.

“She (the Indonesian woman) gave me the key to an apartment and told me to head there because a customer was waiting,” the victim said.
“She told me she would follow in 15 minutes, but I grabbed the key and ran away to the police station.

“I could never run away before because the defendants were always nearby.”

The victim added that she first moved to Bahrain to work as a housemaid for a Bahraini family, but ran away just one month into the job.

She said she then spent five months working for an Indian family, but was left jobless when that family moved away.

That is when she says she turned to the defendants for help.

“I kept searching for work in Riffa and whenever I would run into a Sri Lankan I would ask if they knew of any job opening,” the victim said.

“The male defendant said he had a job for me and took me to the 43-year-old Sri Lankan woman at an apartment.”

The Bangladeshi defendant has previously claimed during questioning at the Public Prosecution that his female co-defendant was the mastermind behind the vice racket.

He and a 41-year-old Indonesian woman, who has been charged with prostitution, were arrested during a police raid on September 5.

The trial has been adjourned until December 23 for a lawyer to be appointed for the Bangladeshi, while an arrest warrant has been issued for his female Sri Lankan co-defendant.

(Gulf Daily News)