Lankan court revokes its order to seal the newspaper office

A court in Sri Lanka revoked its order to seal the Marxist party newspaper office today, an official said.

Chief Magistrate Anura Herath of Gangodawila court took this decision when the Criminal Investigation Department presented its report and sought an extension of the Saturday's court order to temporarily shut down the office of the weekly newspaper Lanka.

The police had not shown sufficient supporting evidence to seal the office, the court said.

The Lanka office at Delkanda in Nugegoda was sealed by the police on Saturday.

The CID claimed that an article published on the January 17 issue of the weekly related to the ongoing investigation of LTTE suspect Kumaran Pathmanathan was a threat to national security.

The police arrested the editor of the newspaper, Chandana Sirimwalwatte Friday. He remains in custody.