Sri Lankan president invents an “international conspiracy”

By Vilani Peiris - The Sri Lankan army captured the last area held by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May, slaughtering most of its top leadership in the process. The fighting has concluded, but none of the underlying political reasons for the conflict have been addressed, let alone resolved. Successive Colombo governments have exploited the anti-Tamil war for 26 years to divert, divide and suppress opposition from working people over their pressing problems.

Now lacking a war, President Mahinda Rajapakse has invented an “international conspiracy” to fill the ideological gap. With the backing of the Colombo media, the government regularly denounces unnamed powers and their local co-conspirators for smearing the name of the Sri Lankan military and undermining its “victory” against the “Tiger terrorists”. The “conspiracy” is woven into the government’s tub-thumping jingoism and used to denounce any critic of its war crimes and anti-democratic methods.

The theme was prominent in the government’s campaign for the Southern Provincial Council elections held last Saturday. Speaking at an election meeting on October 7, Rajapakse declared: “A section of the international community backed by a few locals with vested interests are conspiring to tarnish the image of the country and its war heroes using false and malicious allegations… Although we have strong and friendly relationships with other nations we are not ready to bow down in front of injustice and unreasonable conditions. We would never betray the honour of our motherland. It comes before everything else.”

The “conspiracy” being referred to began in May when several European powers, backed by the US, attempted to pass a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling for a limited investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka and greater access to detention camps into which more than 250,000 Tamil civilians have been herded. In the final weeks of the war, the military was responsible for killing thousands of civilians through indiscriminate bombardment of the remaining LTTE-held territory.

The resolution was completely hypocritical, given the murderous neo-colonial wars waged by the US and its allies in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its purpose was to pressure the Rajapakse government to accept US and European calls for a “political solution” to the war and to enhance Washington’s influence in Colombo against its rivals, particularly China. The Sri Lankan government, with the backing of China, Russia and India, blocked the resolution and passed a cynical counter-resolution praising its victory in the “war on terrorism”.

Ongoing pressure by the US and European powers on Sri Lanka has kept the “conspiracy” alive. Having failed at the UN Human Rights Council, the US held up a much-need IMF loan for months as the Sri Lankan economy slid deeper into crisis. The European Commission has threatened to end its General System of Preference (GSP) concessions for Sri Lankan exports unless an investigation is carried out into human rights abuses. The loss of the concessions on garments and other exports could cost Sri Lanka around $US150 million in exports.

Limited criticisms from US and European officials have added further fuel. On September 30, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared in the UN Security Council that, “[W]e’ve seen rape used as a tactic of war before in Bosnia, Burma and Sri Lanka and elsewhere.” The comments produced uproar in the Colombo media and protests from the Sri Lankan government. A US State Department spokeswoman noted that while there were no reports of the Sri Lankan military using rape as a weapon, Colombo nevertheless “must focus to the future and move forward on the promotion of peace and the protection of human rights.”

Rajapakse’s posturing as an opponent of the major powers is absurd. He is unable to even name the “Western conspirators” because his government is desperately seeking to patch up its differences with the US and Europe. The president has sent his brother and advisor Basil Rajapakse to Europe to explain the Sri Lankan government’s case and to argue for the maintenance of GSP concessions, while refusing any investigation of its human rights record.

Nevertheless, Rajapakse is clinging to his “Western conspiracy” like the proverbial drowning man. While the government has easily won a series of provincial council elections, the results are deceptive. The main opposition parties—the United National Party and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna—offer no alternative for working people. They backed the war, joined in the triumphal victory celebrations and vigorously deny being part of a conspiracy to tarnish the country’s reputation. Neither party has any solution to the economic and social problems facing workers and the rural poor.

Popular discontent and anger are, however, rising. Five months after the end of the war, Rajapakse’s claims that it would usher in a new period of peace and prosperity are wearing thin. The government is confronting a deepening economic crisis produced by its huge military spending and compounded by the global recession. Unemployment jumped to 6.3 percent in the second quarter, up from 5.2 percent in the first quarter. According to government statistics, 155,000 industrial jobs were lost in the second quarter of 2009. Having finally received the IMF loan, the government is preparing to make savage cutbacks to social spending and price subsidies as well as accelerating privatisation and holding down wages.

Fearful of the eruption of social discontent, the government has maintained the huge police state security apparatus built up in the course of the war. With the backing of the opposition parties, the parliament continues to approve ongoing emergency regulations that give the president sweeping, anti-democratic powers. Far from being demobilising, the army is being expanded and preparations made for the permanent occupation of the North and East of the island. Throughout the country, roadblocks and checkpoints manned by heavily armed police and soldiers have been maintained. Security sweeps through residential neighbourhoods, arbitrary detentions without trial and “disappearances” by pro-government death squads continue.

The government is compelled to invent justifications for these draconian measures. Along with the “international conspiracy”, the government couches everything in the language of militarism. Shortly after the defeat of the LTTE, Rajapakse announced an “economic war” to “build the nation”—that is, to demand new sacrifices from working people to defend corporate profits. He has also declared a “war on the underworld” to justify the ex-judicial murder of alleged criminals.

At the same time, the defence ministry, military and police keep up a steady barrage of scare stories to maintain the poisonous communal atmosphere in the country. Daily announcements are made of the arrest of LTTE “terrorists” and the discovery of suicide bomber jackets, and massive hauls of arms and ammunitions. If one relied on the Colombo media, it is as if the war had not ended.

A few recent headlines give the flavour: “Thirty kilos of explosives found at Puthukkudiyiruppu”; “A doctor who helped Tigers captured”; and “A van loaded with Tigers’ explosives captured, they were to bring to Colombo.” Arguing for a further extension of the emergency powers last week, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake declared that although the “terrorists were defeated”, threats still remain.

The real conspiracy against working people in Sri Lanka is by the government and the Colombo political establishment as a whole. Utterly incapable of meeting the aspirations of workers and the poor for democratic rights and decent living standards, it is continuing a campaign of anti-Tamil communalism, conspiracy theories, half-truths and lies as it prepares to use police state measures to suppress any opposition by the working class to the ongoing assault on its jobs, conditions and living standards.

© World Socialist Web Site

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Breaking news: Flooding and unrest again at Menik Farm?

Updates received by Groundviews in the evening today from the field suggest that heavy rain, as it did in August, is again causing havoc in Menik Farm. We were able to confirm heavy precipitation in Vavuniya, but other points noted in these updates are unverified and published here for others in the area, or in the know, to confirm or counter. All times are +5.30GMT.

9.38pm
A reported 1,500 IDPs in Zone 6 are giving the Zone Commander a hard time over leaking shelters.

9.41pm
There was heavy rain at Menik Farm and expect that continuing. Most shelters already damaged and due to this rain cannot stay anymore. I think people try to go out of the camps. Tomorrow only can get more details.

10.01pm
People agitated at Zonal Commander in Zone 6b because shelters are damaged for 1,500 people. World Vision is sending 500 tarpaulins down and 3 busses are ready for evacuation of extremely vulnerable individuals if required. Seems it will get under control.

© Groundviews

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Sri Lanka post-war prospects scouted by US firms

American firms are scouting for business opportunities in post-war Sri Lanka in anticipation of accelerated economic growth, officials said.

Senior executives, mainly from top US companies in India, are in Colombo for talks with Sri Lankan firms and government agencies.

US investments could help rebuild the war-ravaged economy and contribute to lasting peace, Michael Delaney, assistant US Trade Representative for South Asia, told a conference on investment and business opportunities in post-conflict Sri Lanka.

"You can help bring employment and new opportunities to Sri Lankans affected by war," he told Sri Lankan and US representatives from both the public and private sectors.

"Employment generation is a key factor in fostering national reconciliation."

Among the American firms taking part in the conference were General Electric, Ford Motors, Marriott International, Rockwell Automation, Coca-Cola, 3M, Caterpillar, UPS, CH2M Hill, and Levi Strauss

The companies are looking at infrastructure development, energy, tourism, information technology, business process outsourcing, healthcare, education, manufacturing, food processing, trade financing, and logistics.

The visit of officials from US firms, organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in India, follows the end of the island's 30-year war when government forces defeated the Tamil Tiger separatists in May.

"Thanks to the peace dividend there's going to be a lot of growth in this country," Pradeep David, regional manager, South India of Rockwell Automation, told LBO in an interview.

He said he is looking for new markets for the company's industrial automation products designed to make manufacturing more efficient.

"For instance in the rubber industry, we can help improve productivity of tire building machines. Also, we have control system for use in airports and metros."

The US business team is scheduled to visit the eastern Trincomalee town on Wednesday.

The conference on public-private partnerships is being held on the sidelines of talks between the US and Sri Lankan governments on a free trade and investment deal between the two countries.

David Westerman, regional manager, Asia Pacific, Ford Export & Growth Operations, said he wants to identify a new distributor for Ford in Sri Lanka and understand how local import tax and duty structures impact import versus assembly.

"But there are no immediate plans for assembly operations here, although we will look at the advantages of manufacturing during my visit," Westerman said in an interview.

"We see a lot of positive things happening here in the next six months," he said. "With the end of the war we think there are going to be tremendous opportunities here, with a lot of growth and investment. Our desire is to get in early."

The total present value of US investments in Sri Lanka remains relatively small - about 250-300 million dollars.

The US is the largest single market for Sri Lankan exports. Sri Lanka exports about two billion dollars worth of goods to the US each year, mainly apparel and textile products.

Imports from the US are about 200-300 million dollars worth of products.

© Lanka Business Online

Related links:
Business and investor partnerships between Sri Lanka, US strengthened - Daily News
US, Lanka biz looks to rise above politics - The Bottom Line

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Tamil Nadu delegation expresses satisfaction to President

The visiting delegation of MP’s from the state of Tamil Nadu in India met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday evening and expressed their satisfaction over the government’s steps to assist the internally displaced.

A statement released by the President’s office noted that the MPs had been most encouraged by the measures taken by the Sri Lankan government and had expressed their sentiments during the meeting with the President and Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa.

They had thanked the President for giving them the opportunity to see the state of the internally displaced welfare camps for themselves and ascertain the situation. The delegation and also expressed concern over the resettlement of displaced before the oncoming monsoon season and had been assured by the President that a large number of people would be resettled in the coming days. The Tamil Nadu MPs also maintained that they were happy with the government steps to provide shelter during the monsoon.

Tamil Nadu delegation expresses satisfaction to President

The visiting delegation of MP’s from the state of Tamil Nadu in India met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday evening and expressed their satisfaction over the government’s steps to assist the internally displaced.
A statement released by the President’s office noted that the MPs had been most encouraged by the measures taken by the Sri Lankan government and had expressed their sentiments during the meeting with the President and Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa.
They had thanked the President for giving them the opportunity to see the state of the internally displaced welfare camps for themselves and ascertain the situation. The delegation and also expressed concern over the resettlement of displaced before the oncoming monsoon season and had been assured by the President that a large number of people would be resettled in the coming days. The Tamil Nadu MPs also maintained that they were happy with the government steps to provide shelter during the monsoon.

The delegation, which arrived on Friday is scheduled to leave today following a meeting with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama.

© The Bottom Line

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The long suffering of Tamils in Sri Lanka

Refugee in Paris this summer, Sriramanan Ratnasingam A former head of the secretariat of the north-west for Human Rights (Nesohr) at Sri Lanka Is not a witness as others in the war between the Colombo government and the separatist rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Wounded by shrapnel when he was brought in April, on the forehead with an ambulance and a camera, he proposes, we are receiving, to show his wounds, traces of the conflict that has seen, on may , the defeat of the LTTE after thirty years of fighting.

It also offers on the situation of the country a new vision, that escapes both the government propaganda that the LTTE, on the serious obstacles still facing Sri Lanka. The government's military victory over the LTTE has in fact not ended the conflict. He said the country remains under siege. The military remains pervasive and freedoms are repressed by a militaristic and autocratic regime.

"My 12 year old daughter died in late April because of phosphorus bombs that the military in Colombo said they had never used while we were evacuated to Vavuniya (north), says he, and one of my son, age 7, was evacuated to a hospital ship in the Red Cross after being hit by shrapnel ". The death of his daughter and the intervention of a relationship to the Vavuniya town hall will allow it to avoid filtration camps where the army holds the hunt for ex-members of the LTTE among the displaced. "In these transit camps, they put women and men in long lines separated and forced to strip off in front of everyone and they keep for weeks for questioning."

Precarious living conditions

Six months after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, who host the camps in Vavuniya nearly 300 000 displaced Tamils in the fighting, were not emptied. Their living conditions are precarious as NGOs denounce the restrictions imposed on their work by the military.

In late September, the camp guards Manik Farm At Vavunyia, opened fire on a group of displaced persons who wished to join their families on a nearby site. The 7 and 9 October, about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in these camps, Great Britain and the United States has again called for the government in Colombo "guarantee the free movement of displaced persons".

To bury his daughter, as to leave Vavuniya with the rest of his family, Sriramanan Ratnasingam had to pay the government soldiers. "To reach Colombo, people paid 80 000 rupees each dam and for the papers, my mother, who lives in Germany, had to pay between 5 000 and 6 000 Euros ."

If his organization Nesohr, born in 2004 after the signing of the peace process initiated in 2002 by Norwegians between the LTTE and Colombo, would theoretically bring the voice of the Tamil population, its relationship with the Tigers were not simple. "I am a Tamil but I also had problems with them, he says , we encountered in LTTE recruitment of children and the conditions of detention of prisoners and we tried to fight against the extortion of the Tamil people. "

UNICEF, with whom he worked to remove children from the ranks of the LTTE, in turn, help his family to leave the country after him. "The authorities could have taken hostage my children and my wife make me pay for my flight".

© Le Monde

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Trade union action on salary issue: CWBTUC warns

By Hemanthi Guruge - The Combined Water Board Trade Unions Committee (CWBTUC) affiliated to the JVP threatened that trade union action would be taken as the government had failed to increase the salaries of the workers for the past three years, the Convener of the Union Upali Ratnayaka said.

He told the Daily Mirror that they did not get their salary increase since 2006 and they would be compelled to go on an islandwide strike if the government fails to increase their salaries within the month.

The salaries of water board employees are increased once in three years and the last increment was given in 2006. The next salary hike was to be given this year, but so far the management had failed to take any action in this regard.

“We demonstrated in front of the Deputy General Manager’s office (DGM) in Kandy, followed by similar protests in front of the DGM offices in Anuradhapura and Matara,” he said.

Minister of Water Supply and Drainage A.L.M. Athaulla said there would be no pay hike for the Water Board employees for the year 2009. The reasons the minister gave was that it’s up to the cabinet to decide on this matter, the convener said.

© Daily Mirror

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Don't ignore militarised sexual violence

Malathi de Alwis - US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, caused a furore in Sri Lanka recently when she noted that rape had been used as a tactic of war in "Bosnia, Burma, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere" while speaking on the unanimous adoption of the US-sponsored UN security council resolution 1888, which recognises sexual violence as exacerbating situations of armed conflict and impeding the restoration of international peace and security. The government of Sri Lanka immediately lodged a protest with the US embassy resulting in the state department issuing a "clarification" acknowledging that "in the most recent phase of the conflict, from 2006-2009 … we have not received reports that rape and sexual violence were used as tools of war". The government of Sri Lanka decided to accept this "gesture of goodwill" and to not "pursue this distasteful issue any further", while carefully ignoring additional inclusions in the statement that "numerous cases of rape and sexual violence in Sri Lanka, particularly acts committed against women held in detention by the government", have been detailed in the past.

Cynics might laugh it off as a storm in a tea cup – but this furore and its subsequent "resolution" raises a series of troubling issues. Undoubtedly, there is no evidence that the Sri Lankan armed forces have systematically used rape as a tactic of war – when soldiers rape en masse in order to terrorise, violate and humiliate the "other". Reports of sexual violence by members of the armed forces have also declined, this past decade. However, this does not negate the various forms of sexualised brutality which have been perpetrated on countless Tamil women and some Muslim women, by members of the Sri Lankan armed forces and police as well as the Indian Peace Keeping Forces, during this three-decade long civil war – Krishanthy Kumaraswamy, Murugesapillai Koneswary, Ida Carmelita and Rajini Velauthapillai head a long list of names of raped and murdered Tamil women publicised and protested by Sri Lankan feminists. Local activists in the north and east can match every rape that is reported with 10 others which have not been reported (if they live to tell the tale) out of shame or fear, or both. It is a "distasteful issue" that the Sri Lankan government, the armed forces, indeed all of us Sri Lankans, need to confront and condemn.

Militarised sexual violence in Sri Lanka has not been restricted to women from ethnic minorities or other marginalised groups, such as working class, lower caste or transgendered women. Innumerable sexual atrocities were committed against Sinhala women during two Sinhala youth insurrections in the south of the island and there are reports of soldiers beating and/or sexually abusing their wives, their lovers and sex workers during rest and recreation leave. While acknowledging the unrelenting struggle waged by a handful of feminists within the UN, as well as a myriad international feminist organisations and lobby groups to push the UN, to even condemn the resort to sexual violence in contexts of conflict, it is also important to recognise that such piecemeal resolutions – 1325, 1820 and now 1888 – do not adequately address the fact that militarism is inherently violent, patriarchal and masculinist, and intrinsic to the expansion of capitalism and imperialism. In other words, it is a legitimised form of structural violence that pervades our everyday, is dependent on particular gendered notions and practices and is not merely restricted to wars and conflicts. This is exemplified in the 1991 Tailhook scandal, where more than 80 US naval women officers were sexually harassed by US naval pilots while attending a two-day symposium at a Las Vegas hotel.

Addressing the militarisation and institutionalisation of sexual violence would enable a much broader and more comprehensive critique of state/counter-state paramilitaries while dis-enabling hypocritical stances adopted by the likes of Hillary Clinton, who is quick to point the finger elsewhere despite the US military being one of the worst perpetrators of sexual violence both within and without the US. It is time the US as well as the Sri Lankan government's acknowledge the culpability of its respective militaries, the "securing of peace" notwithstanding.

© Guardian

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Sri Lanka defends internment camps

Sri Lanka has rejected a human rights group's claims that the lives of hundreds of thousands of Tamils held in internment camps are in "serious danger" from the imminent rainy season and a looming threat of disease.

Rajiva Wijesinha, a spokesman for the government, told Al Jazeera that the camps were "ready to face the monsoon".

Nearly 300,000 minority Tamils were forced into the military-run camps after fleeing the final months of the government's war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) earlier this year.

The government says it is detaining Tamils in the camps so that they can be screened to weed out former Tamil Tiger fighters.

It had promised to release and relocate 80 per cent of them by the end of the year, but nearly five months after the war ended, around 255,000 remain held in the camps.

Flood fears

With monsoon season approaching, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release the refugees, warning that already poor conditions in the camps were deteriorating, and heavy rains could flood the overcrowded and low-lying areas.

"With all these people penned up unnecessarily in terrible conditions, the situation in these camps is getting tense and ugly," Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director, said at the weekend.

"If they aren't out of there before the monsoons hit, their lives and health will be in serious danger."

Rains in mid-August caused serious flooding, destroying tents and other shelter, making cooking impossible for many, and causing roads to collapse, preventing the delivery of crucial aid such as drinking water.

Water also flooded latrine pits, causing raw sewage to flow among the tents. Since then, conditions have further deteriorated, HRW said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Rajiva Wijesinha, the secretary of the Sri Lanka's ministry of disaster management and human rights, admitted there had been problems with toilets and drainage and floods in August.

But he blamed the UN for the situation, accusing its agencies of not fulfilling promises to upgrade or repair facilities and doing "very shoddy" work in the camps.

Wijesinha said that there was a need for what he called "decongestion" of the camps, adding: "We have asked for assistance on sending people away to some of the districts they had originally come from, and we believe this is going on reasonably well … perhaps much better than Human Rights Watch understands."

He repeated the government's position that it is trying to release the detained Tamils, but said the process had been slow because they need to be screened for rebel ties, and their villages in the former battle zone remain heavily mined.

Not ready

Responding to Wijesinha's assertions, Anna Neistat, a senior researcher with HRW, told Al Jazeera she did not think there was "any reason to believe that the camps are ready" to cope with the onset of the monsoon.

"The Sri Lankan government has been saying so many different things over the last month, including, for example, that people will be released, people will be resettled, that the conditions are up to international standards, none of that has so far proven to be true," she said.

HRW has called on donors such as Japan, the US, and the EU to step up pressure on Sri Lanka over the issue, echoing a call last week by Amnesty International, which urged the government to clear the camps.

Mike Foster, Britain's international development minister, expressed disappointment at the speed of the release when he visited the camps last week.

According to the UN, by the end of September the government continued to hold 255,551 displaced persons in the military-run camps and hospitals, the majority of them in a large complex of camps called Menik Farm.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government is enjoying strong support at home in the wake of the military victory over the Tamil Tigers, winning the latest in a string of provincial elections over the weekend.

But the formerly LTTE-held Northern Province has yet to vote and rights groups say the screening of refugees is an excuse for keeping thousands of Tamils detained.

Sri Lanka says more than 22,000 people have been resettled from the camps, and it hopes to send everyone home by the end of January.

According to the UN however, the government had released fewer than 15,000 as of September 28.

HRW said on several occasions the government had claimed that it had allowed thousands detained in Menik Farm to return home, only to transfer them to other camps or so-called temporary "way stations".

"While the government has the right to screen the displaced persons for security reasons, the process has turned into a ruse to hold as many Tamils for as long as possible in the camps," Asia Director Brad Adams said.

"The government's untruthful statements and promises should not fool anybody anymore."

© Al-Jazeera

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Fonseka to join politics?

B. Muralidhar Reddy - Chief of Defence Staff Sarath Fonseka, who as Army chief led the 2006-09 Eelam War IV, has announced that he has “finished his obligations” towards the military.

In his address at the 60th Army anniversary parade here on Tuesday, General Fonseka said: “This may be the last occasion I make an address of this nature to officers and men of the Sri Lanka Army. Although I am still serving in the Army I have finished my obligations dedicated to the Army as I have reached different heights at this time.”

General Fonseka’s statement created ripples in political circles here. There have been speculative reports in the local media to the effect that General Fonseka nursed political ambitions.

General Fonseka, who led the 2006-09 Eelam War IV, was relieved of his job as Army Chief and designated as Chief of Defence Staff under a new Parliamentary Act which came into effect on July 15.

His latest statement has attracted attention as a there is the possibility of a general election preceded by a presidential poll in the next few months.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa described the outcome of the Southern Provincial Council election as an “overwhelming mandate” for the ruling alliance.

In his statement on the victory of the ruling alliance, Mr. Rajapaksa said the mandate had encouraged his government to go ahead with its plan to reawaken the nation with renewed strength.

“The clear and overwhelming mandate given by the Southern people at this election is a decisive and strong message to those groups trying to create misconceptions about the government and also to the international community,” said Mr. Rajapaksa.

The election outcome triggered varied reactions among a section of the political parties and the media. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which polled almost 11 per cent of votes cast in the home district of the President, said it was a turning point in the political scenario.

JVP general secretary Tilvin Silva told reporters that the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) recorded an overall decrease of 25,491 votes when compared with the 2005 presidential election.

Senior Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva attributed the decline in votes of the ruling alliance to in-fighting.

“However, the UNP cannot rejoice. This election showed that the Mangala Smaraweera, Rauf Hakeem and the UNP — the so-called United National Alliance (UNA) was unable to deliver.”

© The Hindu

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Lankaenews journalists 'not guilty'

Courts in Sri Lanka have acquitted two journalists as police failed to provide any evidence to prosecute them.

Gangodawila magistrate ordered the police to release Sandaruwan Senadheera and Bennet Rupasinghe, the editor and the news editor of Lanakaenews web newspaper.

The pair was arrested after they informed police chief Jayantha Wickramantha, media minister, presidential secretariat and other media personnel of the abduction of Poddala Jayantha, earlier this year.

'Serious injustice'

They were charged by the police of failing to disclose vital information related to the incident.

Mr. Jayantha, the then general secretary of Sri Lanka Working Media Association (SLWMA) was abducted and tortured by unknown assailants.

Police are yet to arrest anyone related to the incident.

Manjula Pathiraja, the counsel appeared for the accused told BBC Sandeshaya that the arrest of two journalists was a 'serious injustice' by the police.

"The only crime these two journalists have committed was trying their best to save a life of a fellow journalist," he said.

Mr. Pathiraja added that it is the duty of the public to rise against what he called police injustice.

© BBC Sinhala

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