Sri Lanka passes controversial amendment giving sweeping powers to president

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa waves at his supporters as he leaves a polling station after casting his vote during the country’s parliamentary election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2020. (Reuters)
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Updated 23 October 2020
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Sri Lanka passes controversial amendment giving sweeping powers to president

  • Constitutional amendment was among electoral promises of the ruling party led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his prime minister brother
  • The legislation, which concentrates power in the president’s hands, was passed without a referendum

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s parliament has approved a controversial constitutional amendment granting sweeping executive powers to the president, which the government says will ensure stability.

The 20th amendment to the constitution was passed on Thursday evening with 156 lawmakers in the 225-member legislature voting in favor of changes that would concentrate authority in the hands of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the cost of the prime minister and the parliament.

“As per the amendment, Sri Lanka has got a strong and stable executive, which can run the government consistently,” Justice Minister Ali Sabry told Arab News on Friday.
 
Rajapaksa will now be able to appoint and dismiss ministers and members of what had been independent commissions responsible for elections, public service, human rights and investigating corruption. He can also dissolve parliament two years and six months after a general election.

After 39 petitions were filed with the Supreme Court against the amendment, the judicial body ruled on Tuesday that several sections of the legislation — those that consolidate presidential power — should be changed or would need to be approved through a referendum.

Minister Sabry said that the changes had been made and no referendum was needed.

The constitutional amendment was one of the campaign promises of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), led by the president and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, ahead of the August elections.

While the ruling SLPP itself did not have the required two-thirds majority to change the constitution, the amendment was passed during Thursday’s sitting as eight parliament members from the opposition voted in favor of it.
 
Hafiz Nazeer Ahamed, a member of the opposition representing the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, said that he voted for the bill as he felt that a country such as Sri Lanka needed a strong hand to run it successfully.

“President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has proven himself as a good administrator and he successfully combated the pandemic without heavy casualties and limiting the deaths to 14 only in the country, and his services were also appreciated for annihilating terror in the country in 2009 when he was the defense secretary,” he told Arab News.

Other members of the opposition see the passage of the amendment as a development “opposite in direction to the rule of law and democratization,” Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran, senior lawyer and parliamentarian from the Tamil National Alliance, told Arab News.

“It is a damaging piece of legislation to the country,” he said, adding that it was regrettable that the amendment was passed with the help of some opposition members.

Dayan Jayathilake, the country’s former ambassador to Russia, France and the US, said that the new amendment would not benefit the country.

“I am disturbed over centralization of powers in the hands of a single person, which will change his character into dictatorship.”


Cellphone outage in Denmark causes widespread disruption and hits emergency services

Updated 1 sec ago
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Cellphone outage in Denmark causes widespread disruption and hits emergency services

The network provider, TDC Net, said in a press release Thursday afternoon that the problems were likely due to an update carried out in the past 24 hours
They had no reason to believe that disruptions could be due to cyberattacks

COPENHAGEN: One of Denmark’s largest cellphone networks suffered severe outages Thursday that prevented people from contacting emergency services, forced at least one hospital to reduce non-critical medical care, and prompted security services in some regions to patrol the streets in search of people in need of help.
The network provider, TDC Net, said in a press release Thursday afternoon that the problems were likely due to an update carried out in the past 24 hours and they had no reason to believe that disruptions could be due to cyberattacks.
TDC said later on Thursday that its operations had returned to normal and it was now investigating the cause of the outage.
Trains and buses in parts of the country also suffered delays due to signaling issues, with chaos in stations and people stuck on trains, Danish media reported.
The Center for Cyber Security, Denmark’s national IT security authority, and a branch of the Danish Defense Intelligence Service could not confirm if the two incidents were related.
TDC Net said Thursday evening it had implemented a fix that allowed customers to make calls, although with a reduced sound quality. The company urged customers needing to call 112, Europe’s emergency number, to remove the SIM card from their phone before placing the call.

Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign

Updated 28 November 2024
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Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign

  • Dmitry Talantov, 63, was arrested in July 2022 after describing the acts of the Russian army in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Bucha as being reminiscent of “Nazi practices“
  • Safronov is now serving a 22-year sentence on treason charges

MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday sentenced a senior lawyer who had defended a jailed journalist in a high-profile case to seven years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s Ukraine offensive on social media.
Dmitry Talantov, 63, was arrested in July 2022 after describing the acts of the Russian army in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Bucha as being reminiscent of “Nazi practices.”
Talantov was for many years president of the Udmurtia lawyer association and in 2021 was the defense lawyer for Ivan Safronov, a journalist covering military affairs whose arrest shook Russia’s media community.
Safronov is now serving a 22-year sentence on treason charges.
A court in the Udmurt Republic found Talantov guilty of actions aimed at spreading hatred and of knowingly distributing “fake” information on the Russian army — charges made possible with a censorship law adopted shortly after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine.
In an emotional speech in court, Talantov said he feared he would not survive the prison term, but also stood by his convictions.
“I am 64 and it is hard for me to imagine that I will come out of prison alive,” Talantov said, according to an audio of the speech published by rights group Perviy Otdel.
Talantov has been in pre-trial detention for two and a half years and has spent two years in an isolation cell, saying the Russian national anthem blasts out there in the evening and at dawn, before a staunchly pro-Kremlin radio show is played.
“I am waiting for words of peace. They do not come,” he said.
He described his conditions as a “Middle-Ages cell with only a (toilet) hole and a tap,” saying “time kills a person” in isolation.
His voice breaking, he addressed his wife saying: “Olga, forgive me, I love you.”
According to a letter he sent to Perviy Otdel, Talantov was arrested while at his summer home in the summer of 2022.
More than 300 lawyers had signed a petition calling for his release at the time.


Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland

Updated 28 November 2024
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Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland

  • The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said
  • From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops

BERLIN: Germany has offered to re-deploy Patriot air defense systems to NATO ally Poland at the start of the new year, the German defense ministry said on Thursday.
The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said in a statement.
“With this we will protect a logistical hub in Poland which is of central importance for the delivery of materials to Ukraine,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.
From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops together with three Patriot units to Poland.
They were based in the town Zamosc, about 50 km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border, to protect the southern town and its crucial railway link to Ukraine.
The deployment was triggered by a stray Ukrainian missile that struck the Polish village of Przewodow in November 2022, in an incident that raised fears of the war in Ukraine spilling over the border.


Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons

Updated 28 November 2024
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Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons

  • Putin said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon

ASTANA: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would head off any attempt by Ukraine to acquire nuclear weapons and would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if such a scenario unfolded.
The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.
Putin, speaking in Astana, Kazakhstan, said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon, but that it might be able to make some kind of “dirty bomb.”


One year on, daily ‘stop genocide’ protests target Israel’s embassy in Korea

A collage of photos show daily one-person rallies held by People in Solidarity with Palestinians in front of Israeli embassy.
Updated 28 November 2024
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One year on, daily ‘stop genocide’ protests target Israel’s embassy in Korea

  • South Korea observes significant growth in the Palestine solidarity movement— Embassy protests held by members of over 200 Korean civil society organizations

SEOUL: Across from the Israeli embassy in Seoul, Lee Hyun-ah was holding a big red banner, as she stood in a lone daily protest calling for an end to Israel’s onslaught, massacres, and occupation of Palestine.
The banner, with writing in Korean, Arabic, and bold English letters reading “Stop Genocide Against Palestinians,” has appeared in front of the embassy every workday since November last year, when UN experts and international rights groups began warning that Israel’s mass killings in the Gaza Strip were unfolding into a genocidal campaign.
The one-person protests have been organized by Urgent Action by Korean Civil Society in Solidarity with Palestine — also known as People in Solidarity with Palestinians — a coalition of 226 South Korean civil society organizations whose members have been volunteering to rally on specific days.
Lee, a 20-year-old student in Seoul, was taking part for the first time.
“I finally found the courage and decided to participate,” she told Arab News, recalling how she began to learn about the decades of Israeli occupation of Palestine only last year.
“I was appalled. There are fundamental virtues, ethics, and values in this world. I cannot believe one group can just attack, invade, and commit genocide. I felt compelled to act.”
Lee’s protest on Monday was the 267th lone demonstration held by Urgent Action in front of the Seoul embassy.
The coalition was established in October 2023, soon after Israel launched its war on Gaza, in which its military has since killed over 44,000 people and injured more than 100,000. The real death toll is believed to be much higher, with estimates by medical journal The Lancet indicating that, as of July, it could be more than 186,000.
The Korean civil society coalition, which includes BDS Korea — a group affiliated with the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement — has also been organizing mass protests, film screenings, and boycott campaigns tailored specifically for South Korea.
Their efforts to raise awareness are bearing fruit, as the number of people joining is rapidly increasing. From just a handful of activists, the movement has grown significantly, with over 2,000 people participating in its Palestine solidarity rally last month.
“Our group was very small. It was about five to seven people working together. There were limitations on what we could do because it was so small,” BDS Korea leader Deng Ya-ping told Arab News.
“Before October 2023, there were very few organizations in South Korea that were acting in solidarity with Palestine ... But after forming People in Solidarity with Palestinians, more civic groups joined, and individuals unrelated to any organization have started participating as well.”
The group is advocating for a change in the South Korean government’s stance on Israel’s occupation and demanding that it stop Korean companies from selling weapons to the Israeli military.
“In July, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must halt its military occupation and that all nations have a responsibility to make Israel comply. So, the Korean government is also responsible ... the most obvious way to do that is to ban arms trade. That is the biggest request we have toward the Korean government,” Deng said.
“Other than that, Korea is a part of the UN Security Council. Korea voted in favor of the resolution that the US vetoed, which called for an end to the genocide and a ceasefire. Therefore, Korea should act accordingly, pressuring Israel to stop.”
The sentiment that the South Korean government is not doing enough is common among those joining Seoul protests — as is their resolve to persist, even when the embassy staff try to stop them.
While the embassy denies the claims, one of the protesters, Lee S., who has been involved in the Palestine solidarity movement since 2016, recalled its attempts to harass them.
“Sometimes embassy workers would come out during our protests to complain or try to provoke physical confrontations. But we never got into the fights. And they would systematically tear down our posters,” Lee said.
“But the South Korean civil society will continue to speak out loudly until the genocide in Gaza ends. We will not stay silent.”