Colombo Additional Magistrate Manjula Ratnayake has issued a conditional restraining order to prevent the dissemination of false and defamatory statements about retired Major General Ashoka Thoradeniya through electronic, print, and social media.

The order, effective until April 30th, was issued against Rahubadda Kankanamge Indrananda de Silva.

The magistrate also ordered Indrananda de Silva to present his case in court on April 30th.

This decision was made under Section 24 of the Online Safety Act No. 9 of 2024, following a complaint by Major General Thoradeniya.

President’s Counsel Sanjay Rajaratnam and Attorney-at-Law Sudath Jayasundara argued that the statements made about Major General Thoradeniya violated Sections 24 and 12 of the Online Safety Act.

They requested a restraining order to prevent further dissemination of these statements.

After considering the arguments, the Additional Magistrate issued the restraining order.

(News1st)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by News1st has not been edited by SLM staff)

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader Udaya Gammanpila said yesterday that former State Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan played a key role in smoking out LTTE terrorists from the eastern province.

Gammanpila, who visited Pilleyan in his capacity of a lawyer, told a press conference that such sacrifices during the war had contributed to the current peaceful environment in the country.

Pilleyan is currently held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in connection with a disappearance case.

“Let’s keep aside this case for a moment! I spoke with him for half an hour in the presence of four CID officers. Yet, a suspect’s interaction with his lawyer is a confidential affair. I brought it to the notice of these officers, but they remained there. Now there four eye witnesses to what I said,” Gammanpila said.

According to him, Pilleyan, with tears rolling down his cheeks, said how he defected from the LTTE and fought against the organization at the cost of his life.

Gammanpila said those who sided with the LTTE at that time had ended up being parliamentarians and NGO leaders.

“I spoke with Pillayan on April 13, the day of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, in the presence of four police officers. This was after the President and the Minister of Law and Order made statements implying Pillayan was connected to the Easter Sunday attacks. Pillayan has not said a single word about the Easter Sunday attacks, as he knows nothing about it to even make such a statement.”

“If someone is accusing a person who was in custody from 2015 to 2020 of being involved in the 2019 Easter attacks, then that person’s mental state needs to be examined. There are many politicians who have taken photos with Zahran. If one of them was arrested as the mastermind, at least there would be a small basis for such a claim.”

He said the President had signed the detention order against Pilleyan, but there is no implication of him in the Easter Sunday attack.

He said the President pledged to make some startling revelations regarding investigations into the Easter attack before April 21.

“There are only a few more days for the deadline. The President is now fixed being unable to make any revelation. The police have deceived him,” he said.

(dailymirror.lk)

(This story, originally published by dailymirror.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

The Department of Meteorology says that showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern and Uva provinces and in Ampara, Batticaloa and Polonnaruwa districts during the afternoon or night today (April 17).

In its latest forecast, the dep. noted that fairly heavy falls of above 50 mm are likely at some places in these areas.

Showers may occur in the coastal areas of Western province and in Galle, Matara and Puttalam districts in the morning too.

Mainly fair weather conditions will be expected in the other areas over the island.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

Misty conditions can be expected at some places in Central, Sabaragamuwa, North-central and Uva provinces during the morning.