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Nadarajah Raviraj was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician. He was Mayor of Jaffna in 2001 and a Member of Parliament for Jaffna District from 2001 to 2006. A member of the Tamil National Alliance, he was shot dead on 10 November 2006 in Colombo.
Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam is a Sri Lankan journalist. He was detained by the Terrorism Investigation Division of the Sri Lanka Police on 7 March 2008. He was held without charge for almost 6 months. He was indicted on politically motivated charges under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act for intending to incite communal hatred through writing, and furthering terrorist acts through the collection of money for his publication. On 31 August 2009, he was convicted of the charges by the Colombo High Court and sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge was a high-profile Sri Lankan journalist, politician, broadcaster and human rights activist who was assassinated in January 2009.
Udayanga Weeratunga is a Sri Lankan businessman who was the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation from 2006 to 2015. Weeratunga is a first cousin of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Nilenthi Nimal Siripala de Silva MP is a Sri Lankan politician currently serving as the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation and former Cabinet Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was the former Leader of the Opposition, former Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management and former Leader of the House.
Jaliya Wickramasuriya is a Sri Lankan businessmen. A close relative of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he was the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2014, until the US government asked the Sri Lankan government to recall him. He has been accused of several financial crimes during his tenure. In April 2022, he pleaded guilty to diverting $332,000 of Sri Lankan government funds supposedly intended for the purchase of a new Embassy site.
Tamil Guardian is an online, English language news site based in London. Published internationally for over 20 years, the media site was originally published as a print broadsheet newspaper in English from the UK and Canada. It has run op-eds from several political figures including from the Tamil National Alliance, the leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband and the British Prime minister David Cameron.
Lakshman Namal Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the eldest son of Sri Lankan former President and former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and a member of parliament. He was the Minister of Youth and Sports from 2020 to 2022.
Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran, MP, PC born 9 February 1964) is a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament.
Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, is a controversial Sri Lankan politician, former MP and businessman. He was member of Parliament of Sri Lanka, and was the former CEO of Mihin Lanka government sponsored budget airline. He also served as coordinating secretary on trade and foreign affairs to the President of Sri Lanka. Prior to entering parliament in 2010 he was a member of the southern provincial council. Sajin has been involved in several controversies, and was widely criticised for his role as CEO of Mihin Lanka and for his involvement in the bankruptcy and financial misfortune of the airline.
Lalith Athulathmudali, the former Cabinet Minister of Trade, National Security, Agriculture, Education and Deputy Minister of Defence of Sri Lanka was killed at 8:10 p.m. Sri Lanka Time on 23 April 1993 in Kirulapana. Athulathmudali was fatally shot while addressing a gathering, approximately 4 weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province, May 1993.
Nalaka Godahewa, MP is a Sri Lankan politician, former Cabinet Minister, and former corporate executive. He served as the Minister of Mass Media from the 18th of April 2022 until his resignation on the 9th of May 2022. Prior to that he was the State Minister Urban Development since August 2020 In addition to this, he is a member of parliament for the Gampaha District. He had served as the Chairman, Securities Exchange Commission ; Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism (2010–2012); and Managing Director, Sri Lanka Insurance (2006–2009).
Lieutenant Commander Yoshitha Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan sportsman and former naval officer. He is the son of the sixth president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa and served as the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
Sanath Nishantha is a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was elected from Puttalam District in 2015. He is a member of the United People's Freedom Alliance.
The following lists notable events that occurred during 2016 in Sri Lanka.
A constitutional crisis began in Sri Lanka when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former president and member of parliament Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister on 26 October 2018 before formally dismissing the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, resulting in two concurrent Prime Ministers. Wickremesinghe and the United National Party (UNP) viewed the appointment as illegal, and he refused to resign.
On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital, Colombo, were targeted in a series of coordinated ISIS-related terrorist suicide bombings. Later that day, two smaller explosions occurred at a housing complex in Dematagoda and a guest house in Dehiwala. A total of 269 people were killed, including at least 45 foreign nationals, three police officers, and eight suicide bombers. An additional 500 were injured. The church bombings were carried out during Easter services in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo; the hotels bombed included the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury and Tropical Inn. According to the State Intelligence Service, a second wave of attacks was planned, but was prevented due to government raids.
National Thowheeth Jama'ath is a Sri Lankan Islamist jihadist militant group implicated in the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings. It is believed to have ties to the Islamic State (ISIL). President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena banned National Thowheed Jamath on 27 April 2019 and designated it as a terrorist organisation along with Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim.
Shani Abeysekara is a former Sri Lankan police officer and former director of Criminal Investigation Department. He was leading in investigations into numerous high-profile cases of human rights abuses such as the disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda and assault on Lasantha Wickrematunge. He was also accused of several other allegations including his involvement in giving pressure to the current Sri Lankan government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In January 2020, he was suspended from the Service of Sri Lanka Police after his leaked telephone conversations with Ranjan Ramanayake which was termed as a discredit to the police services of the country. On 25 November 2020, he was tested positive for COVID-19 and was transferred to a different prison. On 16 June 2021, he was granted bail by the Court of Appeal after spending jail term for nearly one year.
Kachchakaduge Nalin Ruwanjeewa Fernando is a Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament.