The court ruled that he had acted illegally as the Emergency regulations did not contain provisions for his appointment. Current law provides that extension of Emergency must be approved by Parliament every month. In the light, the ban for six months was also illegal. The court awarded Rs 100,000 compensation and ordered police to restore equipment removed from the Sunday Leader office.
But the government introduced new provisions on 1 July and again appointed Mr Rubesinghe. London-based agency Article 19 says that restrictions on the freedom of expression are only legitimate if they meet strict tests under international law which require that restrictions must be clear and narrow and applied by bodies independent of government.
The police arrested six people on 27 June, suspected of the murder of Rohana Kumara, editor of Sinhala journal Satana (Battle). Mr Kumara, who was a strong critic of the People’s Alliance government, was shot dead in Mirihana in September last year.