Sri Lanka's opposition appeals defeat in court
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SRI LANKA, FEB 16 - Sri Lanka's jailed and defeated presidential candidate appealed to the country's highest court Tuesday to overturn the results of last month's election, an opposition official said.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa secured a landslide victory over his former army chief and main rival Sarath Fonseka in the Jan. 26 election, according to official results. But the opposition claims the poll was marred by widespread fraud and have rejected the results.
Lawyers for Fonseka — who was arrested last week after the government claimed he was planning a coup — have asked the Supreme Court to annul the results of the vote, said Tissa Attanayake, an opposition lawmaker. Their appeal cites the government's alleged involvement in vote-rigging, use of state resources on behalf of Rajapaksa and other election malpractice.
It was not clear when the court would consider the case.
The campaign between Rajapaksa and Fonseka was a bitter one. The two were allies when they worked together to defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels last year, but they fell out after the war.
Fonseka denies plotting to stage a coup, and the opposition says he was arrested because he dared to challenge Rajapaksa.
The dispute has spilled over onto the streets and even into the Buddhist temples of this island nation off the southern coast of India. For the Sinhalese Buddhist clergy, both Rajapaksa and Fonseka are considered heroes for trouncing the Tigers and ushering in a period of peace in this war-ravaged nation.
The country's top Buddhist monks have called on Rajapaksa to release Fonseka immediately.
The move by opposition lawyers comes as the country gears up for general elections scheduled for April 8, in which the ruling coalition is hoping to further strengthen its grip on power.
There have been widespread accusations of harassment in the weeks after the poll, with international human rights and media groups saying the government has put particular focus on journalists.
The editor of a pro-opposition newspaper who has been held by police for more than two weeks without charge petitioned the Supreme Court on Monday, saying his arrest was arbitrary and he should be released immediately.
Police say Chandana Sirimalwatte, editor of the Lanka newspaper, is being detained under the country's powerful emergency laws that allow authorities to detain suspects for a 90-day period without charge.
"The prevailing situation is very regrettable. So far, authorities have not filed charges against Sirimalwatte," said Sunil Jayasekara, secretary of Free Media Movement, a local media rights group.
Police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said the investigation was ongoing and Sirimalwatte would be presented before a court once it was finished. He did not elaborate on the investigation.
Separately, the fate of another journalist remained unknown more than three weeks after his disappearance.
Jayakody said an investigation into the case of Prageeth Ekneligoda, a columnist for the news Web site Lanka e News and a critic of the president, continued but no progress had been made.
Media rights groups say Sri Lanka is among the most dangerous places for dissenting journalists. Amnesty International says at least 14 Sri Lankan media workers have been killed since the beginning of 2006.
Posted on: 2010-02-16 03:15
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