COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
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SRI LANKA 7 MARCH <strong>2012</strong><br />
Annex C<br />
PROMINENT PEOPLE<br />
President Mahinda Rajapakse<br />
Prime Minister Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Jayaratne<br />
Minister of Economic Development<br />
Basil Rajapaksa<br />
Minister of External Affairs<br />
G.L. Peiris<br />
Minister of Health Maithreepala Sirisena<br />
Minister of Justice Rauff Hakeem<br />
Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella<br />
Minister of Resettlement<br />
Gunaratne Weerakoon<br />
Minister of Traditional Industries & Small<br />
Enterprise Development<br />
Douglas Devananda<br />
Defence & Urban Development Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa<br />
Click on the hyperlink for the full, current list of Government ministers (site modified 25 January<br />
<strong>2012</strong>, accessed on 3 February <strong>2012</strong>). President Rajapaksa also holds the following portfolios:<br />
Defence; Finance & Planning; Ports & Aviation; Highways. Prime Minister D.M. Dissanayake<br />
also holds the following portfolio: Buddha Sasana & Religious Affairs. 586<br />
PROMINENT PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THE GOVERNMENT<br />
FONSEKA Sarath<br />
―Sarath Fonseka served as commander of the army in 2005-2009 and ran against the<br />
incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse in the January 2010 presidential election.‖<br />
―Fonseka was arrested on 8 February 2010 on charges of profiting from corrupt armaments<br />
deals and the government announced that he would face a court martial for committing 'military<br />
offences' and attempting to politicise the army. Fonseka was one of six MPs from the<br />
Democratic National Alliance, formed in February 2010 as an amalgamation of five parties<br />
including the JVP, who were elected in the April parliamentary election. Fonseka sat in<br />
Parliament but was removed upon being arrested. He has since issued writs to the Court of<br />
Appeal, against his sentencing, cashiering and removal from parliament. In October 2010 he<br />
was sentenced to 30 months in prison by the court martial. On 18 November 2011, the Colombo<br />
High Court sentenced Fonseka to three years in jail as he was found guilty of violating<br />
emergency regulations when he was "spreading rumours and causing public disorder" when<br />
speaking with a weekly newspaper affiliated with the oppsoition. In the interview, he accused<br />
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse of ordering troops to kill surrendering ethnic Tamils<br />
during the final stages of the civil war.‖ (Jane‘s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments, Country<br />
<strong>Report</strong>, Sri Lanka, accessed on 3 February <strong>2012</strong>, Political Leadership, 20 December 2011) 587<br />
586 Official website of the Government of Sri Lanka, Government Ministers, last updated on 25 January<br />
<strong>2012</strong> http://www.priu.gov.lk/Govt_Ministers/Indexministers.html date accessed 3 February <strong>2012</strong><br />
587 Jane’s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments, Country <strong>Report</strong>, Sri Lanka,<br />
http://sentinel.janes.com/docs/sentinel/SASS_country.jsp?Prod_Name=SASS&Sent_Country=Sri%20La<br />
nka& [subscription only] accessed 3 February <strong>2012</strong>, Political leadership, 20 December 2011<br />
232 The main text of this <strong>COI</strong> <strong>Report</strong> contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section<br />
to 2 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2012</strong>.
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