SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A veteran Singapore diplomat on Thursday called for Singapore’s gay community to challenge a law that bans gay sex in the conservative city-state, following India’s scrapping of the same British colonial-era legislation.
Tommy Koh, a prominent diplomat and lawyer, made the comments in response to a Facebook post by a senior Singapore-based academic on India’s landmark ruling on Thursday. “I would encourage our gay community to bring a class action to challenge the constitutionality of Section 377A,” Koh wrote.
Previous legal challenges in 2014 on the constitutionality of the law failed. Reminded of this by another Facebook user, Koh said from his verified account: “try again”.
Under Singapore’s law 377A, a man found to have committed an act of “gross indecency” with another man could be jailed for up to two years, although prosecutions are rare. The law does not apply to homosexual acts between women.
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament today that the suspect in the rape of a lady doctor at the Anuradhapura teaching hospital has been identified as an army deserter and he will be apprehended shortly.
Police have arrested the suspect connected to the sexual assault on a female doctor at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital today morning in Galnewa.
The Dutch Public Prosecutor suspects two companies of paying bribes in the construction of hospitals in Sri Lanka, according to an investigation by FD, the Dutch financial newspaper.
The Minister of Power, Kumara Jayakody, stated that in the future, internationally funded projects, such as power projects, will only be carried out through government-to-government (G2G) agreements and competitive procurement.
The Government today tabled in the House the Report of the Commission to Inquiry into the Establishment and Maintenance of Unlawful Places of Detention and Torture Chambers in the Batalanda Housing Scheme.
Israel, a major player in the global diamond and jewellery trade, has invited Sri Lankan gem and jewellery businessmen and designers to collaborate with Israeli diamond traders.
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