A Sri Lankan Tamil has been named foreign journalist of the year at the British Press Awards in London.
JS Tissainayagam was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for inciting religious disharmony in his magazine. He was bailed in January.
US President Barack Obama mentioned Mr Tissainagayam last year as an example of reporters jailed for their work.
Mr Tissainayagam denies supporting violence. International human rights groups had campaigned for his release.
Last September, Mr Tissainayagam was given an award for courageous and ethical journalism by the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders.
On Tuesday, Reporters Without Borders appealed to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to publicise the results of investigations into the disappearance of another journalist who vanished two months ago.
It notes that senior officials are still implying that Prageeth Eknaligoda staged his own disappearance and alleges that the police have shown "no interest" in finding him alive.
"We urge the president to provide credible information about what happened to him," Reporters Without Borders said.
Media rights groups say Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work.
They accuse the authorities of intimidating and harassing journalists critical of the government's policies.
Official figures show that nine journalists have been killed and more than 25 assaulted in the past four years in Sri Lanka.
The government says it has nothing to do with either the killings or the attacks on journalists.
Reporters Without Borders appeals to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to order the release of the results of the police investigation into leading cartoonist and political reporter Prageeth Eknaligoda’s disappearance two months ago. The police have shown no interest in finding this opposition journalist alive, while government ministers have made contradictory statements that have spread confusion about the circumstances of his disappearance.
“With some senior officials such as defence minister Gotabhaya Rajpaksa still suggesting that Eknaligoda staged his own disappearance, we urge the president to provide credible information about happened to him,” Reporters Without Borders said.
Eknaligoda’s wife and two children have had no news of him since 24 January, when he was abducted as he left the office of the Lanka-e-News website, his place of work. The police have provided no convincing information about the case.
In an interview for the Colombo-based Daily Mirror at the end of February, defence minister Rajpaksa (who is the president’s brother) said: “Eknaligoda had himself disappeared (...) We don’t even know who this Eknaligoda is, what had he done? Anyone can claim that he is missing.”
A few days after Eknaligoda’s abduction, his wife was assured by a presidential adviser that he would “resurface.” But two months have since gone by and Eknaligoda, a diabetic since the age of 15, is still missing.
Reporters Without Borders also urges President Rajapaksa to guarantee the safety of journalists during the campaign for the legislative elections scheduled for 8 April.
The latest act of violence against the news media occurred yesterday when supporters of a government official, some of them armed, attacked the headquarters of privately-owned television station MTV/MBC on Colombo’s Braybrooke Place, throwing stones and trying to ransack it. The station was previously attacked by gunmen in January 2009.
An MTV representative said: “The motive is not immediately clear to us, but we think this attack was political, above all because of next month’s parliamentary elections.” It may also have been linked to R&B singer Akon’s forthcoming visit to Colombo, which MTV is sponsoring, as local Buddhist groups took offence at an Akon video that showed skimpily dressed women dancing with a Buddha statue in the background. The police arrested 16 people during the attack but all were released on bail today.
The most recent arrest of an opposition journalist was that of Ruwan Weerakoon in Colombo on 15 March, a few days after he was hospitalised as a result of heart attack (http://www.rsf.org/Anti-terrorist-p...). “I under arrest in hospital,” he managed to say in SMS message.
Dozens of state media employees have meanwhile been fired, suspended or threatened for protesting against the government’s control of coverage during the campaign for last January’s presidential election. Monitoring by Reporters Without Borders established that 96.7 per cent of the news programme air-time on the two main state TV stations favoured the president
The Colombo Fort Magistrate today ordered the Slave Island police to conduct investigations into the attack on the MBC/MTV head office at Braybrooke place and present a report on the probe to the Court.
The Magistrate also instructed the police to present to Court the police bail bonds obtained from the 16 suspects who were earlier arrested over the mob attack on the media institution and later released. The President has also ordered a probe.
A Sri Lankan journalist serving a twenty year prison sentence is nominated for an international award.
JS Tissainayagam, who is currently on bail, is among 16 international journalists nominated by British Press Awards under International Journalist of the Year.
Journalists from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Eritrea, Azerbaijan and Burma are among the other nominees.
"Winning a British Press Award is justly seen as the crowning achievement of any journalist's career - and just being shortlisted is to be set among the elite of the profession," a statement issued by the organisers said.
'No life'
The award ceremony is due to held in London on Tuesday.
Tissaianyagam was charged under terrorist laws, of causing disharmony among ethnic communities, and of raising money to fund 'terrorist' activities.
He was given the longest ever jail sentence on a journalist by courts in Sri Lanka who found him guilty.
"Although released on bail, Tissa remains afraid for his life and lives in isolation from his family and friends because of this fear," says one of his colleagues.
"He cannot practice his trade and simply has no life," he added.
by Groundviews - "Bell Pottinger hired Qorvis Communications as a subcontractor for its work with the government of Sri Lanka, starting December 1, according to a filing with the US Department of Justice. Qorvis is providing media relations and monitoring, crisis communications planning, and stakeholder representation in the US. The budget is approximately $483,000."
Though freely available on the web since January this year, this information to the best of our knowledge has not been prominently featured or robustly questioned in mainstream media to date.
Bell Pottinger is one of the UK’s largest public relations firms, spin doctors par excellence for those who can afford them, including amongst many others, the Government of Iran, members of the government of Saudi Arabia and in the past, General Augusto Pinochet. The British oil company Trafigura was also a key client, yet despite this was named and shamed in the media for uncontrolled dumping of hundreds of tonnes of highly toxic oil waste around Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast, in August 2006. Though contested, there are media reports that suggest Bell Pottinger is also involved in lobbying the EU on behalf of the Sri Lankan government, perhaps primarily on the issue of the GSP+ extension.
As the news report above indicates, they do not come cheap. The sum of $483,000 noted in this report is for a sub-contract, and comes to around 55 million rupees today. Details of the original contract awarded by our government to Bell Pottinger remain undisclosed, and involve expenses probably much higher than this figure.
Can Sri Lanka spare this money? How was the process of selecting and awarding the tender to Bell Pottinger arrived at? Who was involved? Given that these are public expenses, have they been tabled in Parliament to date? If not, why not?
This is not the first President or government Bell Pottinger has served. In 2001, the media reported very serious differences of opinion between the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, then serving as Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, and President Chandrika Kumaratunge over Bell Pottinger’s involvement in planning an official, three day visit to England. As the Sunday Times reports in December 2001, the contract at the time made individuals working at or associated with Bell Pottinger quite rich. The exact sum of money involved is not clear. In November 2001, the Sunday Leader reported that the contract awarded to Bell Pottinger totalled 97 million rupees. A month later, the Sunday Times reported a figure of 290,581.73 Sterling Pounds or Rs. 39,228,533.35 at the time.
Whereas on the books of Bell Pottinger these may be relatively small sums of money, these are huge sums of public finances spent under successive governments, with little or no accountability and transparency. Though individuals, both in Sri Lanka and in England, have clearly benefitted from these outrageous contracts, the country today is subject to a global scrutiny influenced by factors that as Foreign Policy noted recently, cannot be swept under the rug.
As the Sunday Times noted in February 2010 noting that Sri Lanka’s foreign policy was not outsourced to public relations companies,
"The conduct of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy nowadays is more expensive. Not only are the diplomats posted abroad for this purpose having to be paid for. There are other newcomers too. That is in the form of public relations companies.
"One such company, Patton Boggs, made its debut in the United States. Some of its staff not only sat through conferences at the Sri Lanka Embassy in the US, but did most of the public relations, lobbying and legal work. Of course, the company collected a neat packet in dollars.
"There is now an addition in Britain. They have hired Bell Pottinger. It went to work this week marketing President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s address to the nation at Thursday’s Independence Day ceremonies in Kandy. The company will now collect a packet in Pounds Sterling."
The question is, do voters care enough to hold government accountable?
By Ranga Sirilal - Sri Lanka said on Tuesday it would deny a visa to the Senegalese-American R&B singer and rapper Akon, whose plan to hold a concert there in April infuriated Buddhists offended by one of his videos.
On Monday, hundreds of people stormed the head offices of the Maharaja Broadcasting and Television (MBC/MTV) Network, the media sponsor of the concert. Four employees were injured and windows and parked cars were smashed.
Akon's video for the song "Sexy Bitch" features scantily clad women dancing in front of a statue of the Buddha. Sri Lanka's ethnic majority Sinhalese are primarily Buddhists.
"Taking into consideration the allegations levelled against the singer Akon, the government has decided not to issue him a visa to conduct the concert in Sri Lanka," said Anusha Palpita, director-general of the government's Information Department.
Palpita said the main allegation against Akon was that he was "defaming Buddhism in his music videos".
Representatives for Akon could not immediately be reached for comment.
Sri Lanka's Buddhist clergy are hugely influential in ordinary life and politics, and in the past hardline Sinhalese nationalists have used violence against those they see as offending Buddhism.
The attack by an estimated 200 people on the pro-opposition network, which runs three television and four radio stations from its headquarters in central Colombo, came as the campaign heats up for parliamentary elections on April 8.
In December 2004, a hand grenade attack at a concert by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan killed two people and wounded 19. The attack was blamed on Sinhalese nationalists who were angry that the concert was being staged on the first anniversary of the death of a renowned Buddhist monk.
by Shamindra Ferdinando - A group of men yesterday (March 22) afternoon pelted stones at the head office of the Sirasa TV and Radio at Braybrooke Place, Colombo causing damages to some vehicles parked in the premises.
A section of the employees retaliated by throwing back the stones at the attackers before the police intervened. The television interrupted its regular programme to telecast the attack in the presence of the police and the arrest of some of the attackers.
Director of Information Anusha Palpita told The Island that about 100 to 200 persons had launched a protest outside Sirasa premises before some of them launched the attack.
The Braybrook Place office had been targeted earlier. During yesterday’s incident several Sirasa employees received injuries.
A heavily armed gang caused heavy damage in a raid on Sirasa studios at Pannipitiya in January 2008. The police are yet to arrest the culprits, who carried out the attack.
A senior spokesperson for Sirasa told The Island that they had thwarted an attempt by the attackers to storm the premises. He said that the attackers had caused heavy damage before the police responded to their pleas for help. Had they intervened immediately, the attack could have been averted, he said.
Justice and Law Reforms Minister Milinda Moragoda and Asath Sally, both UPFA candidates contesting from Colombo, visited the Sirasa offices, where they condemned the attack. They said that the perpetrators of this attack should be arrested. UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya and JVP frontliner Sunil Handunetti, too, visited the scene.
Police headquarters spokesman SSP Prishantha Jayakody told The Island that persons engaged in the protest had shouted slogans and carried placards against a live performance in Colombo by top US artiste, Akon. He said that the police had baton charged the unruly crowd and arrested several attackers. The TV footage included scenes of senior police officers kicking some of the attackers and pushing them into police vehicles.
Akon performed in India about a week ago at the invitation of Shah Ruk Khan. Akon’s performance in Colombo at the SSC grounds on April 24 is arranged by Platinum Entertainment (Pvt) Ltd, and MTV/MBC. Sources said that there had been protests against an Akon hit showing scantily clad women dancing near a Buddha statue.
Sirasa showed some of the attackers arriving at the scene in an SLTB bus, which the station claimed was attached to the Kelaniya SLTB depot. Sirasa sources told The Island that the police could have seized the bus, though they allowed it to leave with the majority of attackers. Sources said that a section of the attackers had come in vehicles.
By Dinidu de Alwis - A soaked poster lying on a bush gave a hint to where and why the stones would have come from. It read “Don’t bring down Akon to Sri Lanka”. Another, lying mere inches away said “Chase away Sirasa who are trying to disrupt the Sangha Saasana”. Nearby on the ground a flowerpot lay shattered. The culprit, a half-brick lay where its base once was.
Capital Maharaja, the head office of MTV/MBC was attacked yesterday afternoon by protesters who arrived at the office suddenly. Eyewitness accounts put the number at two busloads, arriving at the scene in Sri Lanka Transport Service (SLTB) buses. One such bus was seen parked near the Viharamahadevi Park and a group of about 50 men gathered around it soon after the stone throwing was subdued by police riot squads.
“We heard a noise coming from the front of the building, and we saw large crowds gathering in front of our office” a spokesperson for MTV said. The slow moving crowd started pelting stones at the Capital Maharaja Building, and “as an act of self defence” the staff returned the same stones which were thrown at them back to the protesting crowd. MTV staffers also used a firehose to good effect to thwart the mob. the hose lay curled on the side of the building, with shattered glass and stones all around it. It lay like giant snake that had done its job and wanted no more action.
Video footage recorded by the private TV station shows crowds pelting stones at the building, and then making a hasty retreat when Police arrived at the scene. Reports indicate that sixteen protesters were arrested.
The attack, which eyewitness accounts suggest was spurred as a result of opposition to the proposed performance by Senegalese rapper Akon, comes a year after the MTV transmission station in Depanama was besieged by unidentified persons and set on fire.
Sri Lanka previously saw a violent act related to a musical performance in 2004, when a hand grenade that was lobbed at a concert led by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan killed two including a pregnant woman. The event was attributed to Buddhist fundamentalists, as the performance fell on the one year death anniversary of popular religious figure Ven. Gangodavila Soma Thero.
Perambara previously reported on the growing opposition and the potential for violence against the performance by Akon. The two facebook groups which have grown by more than two thousand members since then, alleged that Akon’s music videos were insulting to Buddhism and that the artist should not be allowed to perform in Sri Lanka.
MTV spokespersons did not link the Akon concert to the attack. Some even suggested that the concert could have been used as a ruse by those who wanted to get back at the station. “There have been threats on the station for some time,” Susil Kidelepitiya, a former Sirasa news director, now candidate for the opposition UNP said.
MTV however is not the only promoter of the Akon concert. Repeated attempts to contact Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, a key partner in organizing the performance has failed.
by Chitra Weerarathne - Free Lance Journalist Ruwan Amarajith Weerakoon, currently in detention custody, through a lawyer, filed a fundamental rights violation application against the CID and the Terrorist Investigation Department.
He had said that he had been illegally arrested on March 15, and thereafter detained in TID custody.
The petitioner requested the Court to direct the CID and the TID to release him from unlawful custody.
The petition said that the detainee had been arrested while he was receiving medical treatment at the Nawaloka Hospital Colombo.
Detained former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka's wife Anoma was questioned by the CID officials in connection with the ongoing investigations against her husband.
"The CID questioned her for about three hours last evening," the Daily Mirror said today quoting reliable sources, after which she charged the government with not sparing any member of her family.
"I was the only one left out by the CID in this case. All our relatives have now been questioned," the news paper quoted Anoma as saying.
The general's wife said "under the present political circumstances" she expected questioning by the CID.
"I am ready to face them. I am not scared to tell the truth," she said.
"The CID had to pause questioning as Mrs Fonseka had to take meals to Gen Fonseka who is under detention at the Naval headquarters," the report said.
JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake has also been asked to appear before the CID, the Fonseka led (JVP dominated) Democratic National Alliance (DNA) party said.
Anoma has told reporters that "Fonseka who helped in eradicating terrorism will not in any way assist terrorists." She said her husband was suffering from accumulation of phlegm inside the lungs which is very dangerous.
"He has been told to be careful about cough and cold." "Only I have been granted permission to take food for him. Despite the court granting permission, it is yet to materalise that we have been given a order from the higher ups. I don't think they have even heard about warm water (required for him)," Anoma said.
DNA General Secretary Vijitha Herath told a news conference prior to the questioning that his party comprises politicians who were ready for any eventuality, and therefore they would not shy away from any of such threats.
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