Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa has formed two committees to study and report back to him on the contents of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that the Government is planning to sign with the US. One committee is set to examine the impact the SOFA Agreement will have on the country in the sphere of politics, economy and society. This committee is headed by Professor G.L. Peiris also includes four experts in foreign relations and policies.

A new contingent of 61 Army personnel, including 11 officers under phase six of the UN Mission of South Sudan (UNMISS), left this morning (3) for South Sudan to serve in the SRIMED Level 2 Hospital in Bor, South Sudan, the Army said.

The government had decided to present a motion to Parliament against the death penalty, a government MP told The Island. He said it would be a private member’s motion. President Maithripala Sirisena said late last month that four notorious drug traffickers would be hanged shortly. The decision was opposed by both Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando was arrested by the CID at the Colombo National Hospital a short while ago, Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekera said. Mr. Fernando was admitted to the ICU of the Cardiology Unit at the National Hospital this morning. Former Defence Secretary was to be appeared before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) this morning to give a statement over the Easter Sunday attacks.

IGP Pujith Jayasundara was arrested by the CID at the Police Hospital, Narahenpita a short while ago, Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekera said. IGP Jayasundara who was asked to appear before the CID this morning to give a statement over the Easter Sunday’s attacks, was admitted to the Police Hospital, Narahenpita.

The United States has insisted that there is no plan to establish a military base in Sri Lanka. The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Alaina B. Teplitz said that negotiations with Sri Lanka on a defence agreement only aim to facilitate cooperation.

A five-member judge bench headed by Justice Yasantha Kodagoda has been appointed to hear a fundamental rights petition filed against the death penalty at the Appeal Court. Last week, Malinda Senaviratne, a senior journalist, had filed the petition in the wake of President Maithripala Sirisena's remarks that he has signed the death penalty for four inmates.

The Sri Lanka government should halt plans to resume executions and restore its de facto 43-year moratorium on the use of the death penalty, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today. Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena said he has ordered the execution of four drug offenders, claiming it would end increasing addiction problems in the country.

The Government of Japan has reviewed its travel advisory to Sri Lanka by lowering the level of advice to ‘exercise a high degree of caution’ as the security situation has improved. The Government of Japan, however, continues to advise the Japanese nationals to maintain sufficient vigilance during their stay in Sri Lanka with possible occurrence of terrorist attacks and other incidents of violence in mind.

A fresh controversy has arisen over the Mannar mass grave site following a magisterial order that experts who carried out excavations provide a forensic report on the skeletons they had dug up before July 31. Prof. Raj Somadeva of Kelaniya University confirmed that the court had issued the order, but there were issues with carbon dating reports issued by a Florida lab on the samples sent from the Mannar mass grave site.

The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) at its 16th Convention in Jaffna yesterday reiterated its demand for a power sharing arrangement in a unit of a re-merged Northern and Eastern provinces.The remerging of the two provinces is one of eleven demands the ITAK is planning to forward to the government shortly. The ITAK leaders at the convention had decided to launch a democratic people’s struggle if they do not receive a positive response to their demands within three months.

United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Kumara Welgama says that he will quit the nominal posts in the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and work with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Speaking to the ‘Mokada Wune’ (What Happened) program on TV Derana, MP Welgama stated that the SLPP has already informed him of their candidate for the presidential election.

There is no possibility of holding the provincial council elections in September this year, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has told the leaders of constituent parties of the UNF and the UNP backbenchers, at Temple Tree, yesterday.

Twelve fundamental rights petitions were filed at the Supreme Court today (Jul 1) against the implementation of the death penalty. Former Education Secretary Dr. Tara de Mel was among the petitioners who moved court today. Attorney General Dappula de Livera has been named among the respondents to the petition. The petitioners argued that the implementation of the death penalty would result in the violation of fundamental rights as established in the constitution.

President Maithripala Sirisena has stated that the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks had taken place with the assistance of international drug dealers. Addressing the conclusion of the Drug Prevention Week today (Jul 1), the President claimed that international terrorist groups have mostly been funded by revenue earned through the narcotic trade. During his address, the President recalled his conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres a few days ago on matters concerning narcotics and the death penalty.

The case of the assassination of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has been concluded by the High Court. The reason behind this is the death of Muttiah Sabhadevan, a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) member who was arrested in connection with the murder of Kadirgamar on June 22 at the Colombo National Hospital. On May 30, he was admitted to the National Hospital due to kidney disease and was 62 years old at the time of his death.

The No Faith Motion against the government by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna is to be debated in parliament on 10th and 11th of this month and a public rally of sending home the government will be held on July 7 and 8. JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath said they would be conducting a walk for two days with the idea of sending away the government for destroying public security and anarchy in the country.

A police constable of the Ministers’ Security Division (MSD) has been injured after being assaulted by a son of a parliamentarian. According to the Police Media Spokesperson the assault has been carried out by the elder son of Puttalam District UNP MP Shantha Abeysekara. The assaulted officer has been admitted to the hospital for treatment. The police are carrying out further investigations on the matter.

National Election Commission (NEC) Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya has warned President Maithripala Sirisena that the NEC may be forced to resort to legal action over delays in conducting the long overdue Provincial Council elections. His warning is contained in a letter sent this week to Presidential Secretary Udaya R. Seneviratne.

A cabinet paper is to be submitted to resolve the issue over Tamil political prisoners arrested under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Minister of National Integration, Official Languages, Social Progress, and Hindu Religious Affairs Mano Ganesan told The Sunday Morning that the cabinet paper will seek to rehabilitate the Tamil political prisoners and release them.

The Justice Ministry is yet to receive a presidential order to prepare for the execution of four convicts. President Maithripala Sirisena said last week that he ordered the execution of four convicts over the next few days. However, Justice Ministry Secretary R.M.D.B. Meegasmulla told The Sunday Morning that the Ministry had not yet received a signed document for the executions from the Presidential Secretariat. He also said that even though a training programme had been conducted for hangmen who had been shortlisted, no one had yet been picked.

German Ambassador Joern Rohde said Sri Lanka was unfortunately again in the headlines for the wrong reasons. In a series of tweets, the Ambassador said it could have been a fantastic year for the Sri Lankan tourism industry after Lonely Planet in October 2018 announced Sri Lanka to be the travel destination for 2019.

Mavai Senathirajah has been reappointed as the leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK). ITAK is the main alliance member in the Tamil National Alliance led by R. Sampanthan. The Tamil party met today to appoint new office bearers.

A large haul of landmines have been found in the Ilayamarndankulam forest area in Vavuniya. Omanthai police said that 25 land mines were recovered in one sack. An RPG bullet was also found amongs the landmines. The security forces believe that the stockpile of land mines may have been hidden by the LTTE during the war. Further investigations are being carried out by the Omanthai Police.

Norway is deeply concerned that Sri Lanka intends to implement the death penalty, which would put an end to Sri Lanka’s 43-year moratorium on the use of this cruel and irreversible punishment. As recently as December 2018, Sri Lanka was one of 120 countries that voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. The vote was a tangible sign of the global trend to move away from the use of the death penalty.

Heated arguments prevailed in parliament today after JVP MP Sunil Hadunnetti claimed that moves were afoot to hand over the Mattala Airport to India and asked the subject minister if the government was planning to do so. State Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Ashok Abesinghe said the government had invited any interested country to join hands with the Sri Lankan government to develop Mattala Airport as a functioning airport on the basis of a Public Private Partnership (PPP).

It is reported that a woman is the first person on the list of eighteen death sentences. Shyamali Perera, a resident of Mattakkuliya is first in the list. She was sentenced to death on March 1, 2011. Women have not been sentenced to death under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The highest punishment for women in the history of prisons, thus far is life imprisonment.The person named Dharmakaran is second on the list. He was sentenced to death on December 4, 2003. According to that list, N.J.M. Ishtar and P.G. Bolising is third and fourth behind. They were sentenced to death in 2007.

While stating that resuming death penalty would send a wrong signal to the world, the European Union (EU) today said it would continue to monitor Sri Lanka’s effective implementation of the international conventions relating to the GSP+ commitment. In a statement, EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Maja Kocijancic said the EU would monitor 27 international conventions relating to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) commitment, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.