The lawyer for a Sri Lankan author arrested after writing two books explaining why she converted to Islam from Buddhism denied she had links to Muslim extremists and said she is a victim of religious intolerance.
Lakshan Dias said police were questioning his client, Sarah Malini Perera, about possible links to Islamist militants, but he said she has no such ties.
Perera has been detained by police for nearly two weeks under the country’s tough anti-terrorism law used against the now-defeated Tamil Tiger separatists.
The defense ministry has issued a 30-day detention order for Perera under the law, he said.
VISIT
Perera lives in Bahrain but was visiting her native Sri Lanka when she was arrested.
She was trying to courier copies of her books to Bahrain when the courier office manager — who Dias says is linked to a powerful hardline Buddhist group — informed police that Perera was carrying books offensive to Buddhism, the lawyer said.
Buddhism is the religion of about 70 percent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million people, and the country’s Constitution guarantees the faith a prominent role. Muslims are a minority ethnic-religious community, and relations with other groups are generally peaceful.
Authorities and many Sri Lankans are sensitive to perceived slights to Buddhism. Last month the government banned a planned concert by R&B star Akon after stone-throwing mobs protested a music video in which scantily clad women dance at a party where a Buddha statue can be seen in the background.
BACKING
Dias said that police questioning indicated that they thought Perera would not have written her books on her own and they suspected Islamist militants might be behind their publication.
The books were not published in Sri Lanka, and Dias said he has yet to read them.
Police have confirmed Perera’s arrest but have refused to say on what grounds she is detained.
Police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said yesterday that he has no further information on the case.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS