U.S.-funded NGOs forward to Cairo's criminal courts

U.S. says "deeply concerned" about NGO cases sent to Egypt courtReuters
January 17, 2012. REUTERS/Larry Downing

SHANNON, Ireland (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said Sunday it was "deeply concerned" by reports that Egyptian judicial officials plan to forward cases involving U.S.-funded NGOs to Cairo's criminal courts and want clarification from the Egyptian government.

"We have seen media reports that judicial officials intend to forward a number of cases involving U.S.-funded NGOs to the Cairo criminal court," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Shannon, Ireland.

"We are deeply concerned by these reports and are seeking clarification from Egypt," she said. Nuland is travelling with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The cases of 40 people - including U.S. citizens, other foreigners and Egyptians embroiled in a dispute over the activities and funding of pro-democracy groups - have been referred to court, Egyptian judicial sources said Sunday.

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Abducted JVP organiser in Jaffna feared killed - Tamil Net

Abducted JVP organiser in Jaffna feared killed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 December 2011, 18:02 GMT]

Lalith Veeraraj, the Jaffna district organiser of the Movement for People’s Struggle, a JVP dissident group and his friend Kugan Murugananthan, who were reported missing in Achchuveali on Friday are feared killed, according to the MPS faction of the JVP which staged a press conference in Jaffna on Saturday.

Lalith Veeraraj has been involved in bringing out the news regarding the missing persons, political prisoners and abductions in Jaffna, Ki'linochchi, Mullaiththeevu, Mannaar and Vavuniyaa during the past months and had been warned several times by the SL intelligence operatives not to get involved in the missing persons issue.

Mr. Veeraraj and Mr. Muruganathan, left the house from Aavarangkaal Sivan temple area around 5:00 p.m. in a motorbike with registration number NPGT-7852.

Now, his party officials say they were receiving phone calls from within the SLA establishment saying that Veeraraj has been assassinated, according to Chamira Koswatte, the convenor of the Movement for People’s Struggle.

Mr. Veeraraj was working on staging a press conference for the JVP dissidents group. But, the press conference itself on Saturday turned out to be a meeting on his disappearance.

Regardless of his party affiliation with the JVP or now the dissident group, both of which fail in recognising the Tamil national question, Mr. Veeraraj and his friends were voicing for the rights of the missing persons and was maintaining good contacts with Tamil parliamentarians on the missing persons issue.

Some time back, when he went to discuss with Mrs. Pathmini Sithamparanathan, he was attacked by a gang believed to be an squad operated by the SL military intelligence.

Mr. Veeraraj is born to a Tamil father and a Sinhala mother.