Our Reporter

Our Reporter

‘Our Reporter’ is a collective byline representing a team of Jaffna- and Sri Lanka-based journalists and editorial staff who contribute to Jaffna Monitor.

Police Arrest Gnanasara Thero at Forest Monastery After Court No-Shows

Police Arrest Gnanasara Thero at Forest Monastery After Court No-Shows

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan police on Saturday arrested Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, the general secretary of the Buddhist nationalist group Bodu Bala Sena, at a forest monastery in the Thiniyawala area of Kalutara District. Two courts issued warrants for his arrest this week after he failed to appear. The Colombo Crimes Division made the arrest on an outstanding court warrant, the police media spokesperson said. The monk had not been seen in public for most of the past weeks. After the
October 2026
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
Iranian Tankers Stranded Off Sri Lanka as U.S. Sanctions Squeeze Supplies

Iranian Tankers Stranded Off Sri Lanka as U.S. Sanctions Squeeze Supplies

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry said this week that American warnings against servicing sanctioned Iranian tankers anchored off the island apply to every country, after The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington had pressed the government to cut off food, fuel and water to the ships. The Journal reported on Sept. 30 that about 20 empty Iranian oil tankers were drifting roughly 15 miles off Sri Lanka's southwest coast with their engines idled, and that their food, fuel and fresh wate
Monitor Memo
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Our Reporter
Pazha Nedumaran's Son, Who Became a Buddhist Monk, Dies in Melbourne at 57

Pazha Nedumaran's Son, Who Became a Buddhist Monk, Dies in Melbourne at 57

MELBOURNE, Australia — Manickam Nedumaran, the younger son of Pazha Nedumaran, the veteran Tamil nationalist leader and longtime supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, died in Melbourne on Thursday after treatment for cancer, according to people close to the family. He was 57. Mr. Manickam had lived and worked in Melbourne for several years. He had converted to Buddhism and was living as a monk. He died at about 8:45 a.m. Indian time on Oct. 1, after about a month of treatment. His
JM Exclusive Obituary
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Our Reporter
Court of Appeal Dismisses Gotabaya Rajapaksa's Petition Seeking Protection From PTA Arrest

Court of Appeal Dismisses Gotabaya Rajapaksa's Petition Seeking Protection From PTA Arrest

COLOMBO: The Court of Appeal on Thursday (October 1) dismissed, without taking it up for hearing, a writ petition filed by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa seeking an order preventing his arrest and detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in connection with investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. The order was delivered by a two-judge bench comprising Court of Appeal President Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya and Justice Sarath Dissanayake after considering submissions m
JM COURTS
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Our Reporter
Cameraman Arrested After Clash With Ranil Wickremesinghe's Security Officer

Cameraman Arrested After Clash With Ranil Wickremesinghe's Security Officer

COLOMBO: A television cameraman was arrested on Thursday after a police officer assigned to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe's security detail alleged that the cameraman struck him on the head with a camera outside a Colombo court. The incident took place on Wednesday near the main entrance of the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court as Wickremesinghe was leaving after a hearing in a case concerning the alleged misuse of public funds for a trip to Britain. Video footage recorded by journalists
September 2026
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Our Reporter
Japan Gives $447,000 for Demining in Northern Sri Lanka

Japan Gives $447,000 for Demining in Northern Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Japan has provided more than $447,000 for a new demining project in northern Sri Lanka, where land mines and unexploded ordnance from the civil war still restrict resettlement and economic activity more than 17 years after the fighting ended. The $447,432 grant, equivalent to about 148 million Sri Lankan rupees, will finance humanitarian demining by the Skavita Humanitarian Assistance and Relief Project, known as SHARP, according to the Japanese Embassy in Colombo. Akio Is
September 2026
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Our Reporter
Court Orders Arrest of Gnanasara Thero

Court Orders Arrest of Gnanasara Thero

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal has ordered the arrest of Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, the general secretary of the hard-line Buddhist organization Bodu Bala Sena, after he failed to appear in court in proceedings concerning a contempt-of-court sentence from which he had previously been released by a presidential pardon. A two-judge bench comprising Justices Mayadunne Corea and Lakmali Karunanayake issued the warrant on Tuesday, Sept. 29, directing the inspector general of
September 2026
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Our Reporter
Supreme Court Orders Fowzie to Pay Millions — and Apologize to the Public

Supreme Court Orders Fowzie to Pay Millions — and Apologize to the Public

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ordered a former cabinet minister on Tuesday to pay about 6.6 million rupees to the state and publicly apologize after finding that his use of a government vehicle for personal purposes violated the constitutional right to equality. A.H.M. Fowzie, a veteran politician who served in several ministerial positions, was ordered to pay 1,664,334.93 rupees within one month to reimburse expenses associated with the vehicle and an additional 5 million rupe
September 2026
Our Reporter

Our Reporter