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President rejects request to extend terms of five envoys

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A request from the Foreign Ministry to grant permission for four ambassadors and one high commissioner to complete a three-year tenure beyond the retirement age of 60 has been turned down by the President’s Office.

Permission had been sought for these heads of missions – one of them who has already completed the date of retirement and four others who will be reaching retirement age by next year — to complete the three-year term.

However, a decision has been taken not to grant any extensions keeping with a government policy that public sector employees should retire at the age of 60.

Several other Foreign Ministry requests have also been turned down.

The Foreign Ministry had taken up the position that permission should be granted to complete the three-year tenure in the case of Heads of Mission appointed from the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, despite the revision of the retirement age.

The Ministry also has cited the practice of allowing Heads of Mission appointed from the Foreign Service to complete their full tenure of three years after reaching 60.

Extensions had been sought in respect of Ambassadors P.M. Amza (Riyadh), Grace Asirwatham (Brussels), A. Sabarulla Khan (Oman) and S.D.K Semasinghe (Warsaw) and High Commissioner A.M.J. Sadiq (Maldives).

The Ministry had recommended that Mr Amza be allowed to complete his tenure till October 2024, Ms Asirwatham till June 2023, Ms Semasinghe till June 2024, Mr Sadiq till January 2025 and Mr Khan till September 2025.

In a related development, instructions have gone out to increase the number of professionally trained and experienced Sri Lanka Foreign Service officers to be posted as Heads of Mission overseas.

Currently, less than 50 percent of the Heads of Missions are from the Foreign Service.

(Sunday Times)

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Anuradhapura Prison chief granted bail

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The Superintendent of the Anuradhapura Prison – Mohan Karunaratne who was in remand custody, has been granted bail.

The Anuradhapura Magistrate’s Court granted bail under two sureties of Rs. 500,000 each and imposed an overseas travel ban on him.

Karunaratne was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on June 08 over the alleged unauthorized release of an inmate convicted of multiple counts of fraud and corruption under a presidential amnesty.The case is to be taken up again on Aug. 04.

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SL calls to de-escalate situation in Middle East

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The Government of Sri Lanka has expressed grave concern about the latest developments in the Middle East. 

A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism states, “We continue to call upon all parties to take concrete steps to de-escalate the situation.”

“All concerned parties should return to dialogue and engage in intense diplomatic efforts to establish and maintain peace with a view to ensuring stability in the Middle East region,” the statement adds.

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Warrant issued to arrest Sajin Vass

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The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (June 23) ordered to arrest former MP Sajin Vass Gunawardena and present him in court.
The order was issued due to Gunawardena’s failure to appear in court over a case filed by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue against the non-payment of income tax amounting to Rs. 36.9 million.

The Commissioner of Inland Revenue had filed this case in 2023, regarding the non-payment of income tax for the years 2010 – 2012.

Appearing on behalf of the complainant, Dinesh Perera, informed the court that the defendant had not appeared in court despite being issued summons.Taking into consideration the facts presented, Additional Magistrate Pavithra Sanjeevani Pathuraja issued a warrant ordering Gunawardena to be produced before the court.

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