Conviction of Tissainayagam

"Since Mahinda Rajapakse’s elevation as president, 27 journalists and media workers have been killed in cold blood. Out of those three were Sinhalese, one Muslim and 23 Thamils...
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By Nakkeeran

(September 08, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) The sentencing of J.S.Tissanayagam, editor of the NorthEastern Monthly ezine, to 20 years hard labour by a Sinhala judge after being convicted for using racially divisive language under the country’s tough anti-terrorism laws, comes as little or no surprise to us. Tissanayagam was further charged with having taken money from the LTTE to operate a website providing the Thamil version of facts about the civil war. His main crime was to write 2 articles in the now-defunct Northeastern Monthly in 2006 and 2007 criticizing the Sri Lankan persecution of the Thamils who were seeking an independent homeland.

In fact, Tissanayagam is extremely lucky he is still alive, unlike many of his colleagues who have paid the price of media freedom with their own lives.

The arrest, trial and conviction of Tissanayagam is a racially motivated revenge act and confirms the widely held belief that Sri Lanka is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for independent journalists.

According to Amnesty International and the Asian Human Rights Commission, Tissanayagam’s evidence that he purportedly co-operated with the LTTE was fabricated and the criminal charges against him were trumped up in order to silence his anti-government views.

Sri Lanka has an abysmal record regarding press freedom. The International Committee to Protect Journalists (ICPJ) ranks only Iran, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Colombia as worse in their mistreatment of reporters.

Since Mahinda Rajapakse’s elevation as president, 27 journalists and media workers have been killed in cold blood. Out of those three were Sinhalese, one Muslim and 23 Thamils.

Well known defence analyst Dharmaratnam Sivaram was abducted by 4 men in a white van in front of the Bambalapitya police station in Colombo on April 29, 2005. Later his body was found near the parliamentary complex within a high security zone.

The Editor in Chief of the Sunday Leader and one of Sri Lanka’s best known journalists Lasantha Wickremetunge was murdered by gunmen on motorcycles in broad daylight on January 09, 2009 en route to work. The murder of Lasantha came just two days after the arson attack against private TV broadcaster MBC / MTV networks that destroyed their Main Control Room and studios worth millions.

The political system of Sri Lanka since 1948 has failed the Thamil people and is rotten to the core. It has been infected by the virus of racism. Now the virus has spread to the judicial system as well.

In all these murders there were few arrests and no convictions in a court of law. Understandably, the accused fingers were pointed towards top elite of the government, especially Defence Secretary Gotabhaya.

However, the Rajapakse government points to some mysterious armed force hell bent on discrediting the government. It has done what it does best – expressed outrage, ordered a full investigation and appointed a committee to investigate the attacks.

If there are mysterious armed groups on the loose wantonly murdering journalists and vandalising private and independent media establishments, one must ask why the Government has done to protect the freedom of expression and media freedom from such armed groups?

The Rajapakse brothers are virtual dictators who have displayed scant regard or tolerance for criticism against their policies, practices, statements and beliefs. The conviction of Tissanayagam confirms fears of planned terror campaign against critical voices, conducted without pause and in complete impunity.

If Tissanayagam is sentenced for 20 years hard labour for using racially divisive language under the country’s Anti-Terrorism law, how many years should a racist and brutish Lt. General Sarath Fonseka be put behind the bars for saying publically that Sri Lanka ‘belongs’ to the majority Sinhalese?

Sarath Fonseka told the National Post “I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people...We being the majority of the country, 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country...We are also a strong nation ... They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things." His interview to the National Post of Canada on September 23, 2008 remains un-contradicted.

To be charitable to Sarath Fonseka, J.R. Jayewardene referring to the 1983 racial pogrom vomited undisguised racism. He said -

“But I cannot see, and my Government cannot see, any other way by which we can appease the natural desire and request of the Sinhala people to prevent the country being divided, and to see that those who speak for division are not able to do so legally." (Quoted in Lawasia Report 'Democracy in Peril - Sri Lanka, a Country in Crisis' by Patricia Hyndman, 7 June 1985)

Tissanayagam's conviction is not the beginning but the culmination of years of racist discrimination, ethnic cleansing, suppression and a brutal war that claimed the lives of over 100,000 Thamils.

Those who claim they are fighting a “War against Terrorism” should themselves scrupulously respect the norms and values of democracy and human rights, of which the tolerance of criticism is a fundamental facet. Those who resort to egregious violence are enemies of democracy and become terrorists themselves.

The International media rights groups have rightly accused the government of using emergency laws to silence public criticism of its conduct and has failed to investigate violent attacks – and killings – of journalists. They have opined that we may as well write the obituary for media freedom and the freedom of expression in Sri Lanka.

"The imposition of this extremely severe sentence on Tissainayagam suggests that some Sri Lanka judges confuse justice with revenge," says Reporters Without Borders, adding that it is “appalled" by the sentence.

The judgment by the Supreme Court on the demerger of the North and East provinces was a classic case where racism got the better of jurisprudence.

As reported by The Economist, “Sri Lanka has failed to honour important human-rights commitments, and is ineligible for GSP Plus. Widespread police torture, abductions of journalists, politicised courts and un-investigated disappearances have all played a part in creating a state of “complete or virtually complete impunity in Sri Lanka.”"

This is why we say the conviction of Tissanayagam on some ludicrous charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was no surprise.

Tissanayagam criticized Mahinda Rajapakse’s government for using food, medicine and other essential items as weapons of war. He also accused the Sinhala armed forces of carrying out extrajudicial executions -- murdering civilian Thamils as a warning to Thamils not to support the LTTE.

The Sri Lankan government stoked fears of terrorism to provide a pretext for draconian anti-terrorism laws and regulations. It uses the PREVENTION OF TERRORISM ACT (PTA) and the armed forces as instruments of STATE TERROR to cow down the Thamils at the point of the gun and keep them in chains. Even after the recent military victory - abduction, detention, disappearances, collective punishment, extra-judicial executions and the systematic use of torture by the armed forces continue unabated.

The political system of Sri Lanka since 1948 has failed the Thamil people and is rotten to the core. It has been infected by the virus of racism. Now the virus has spread to the judicial system as well.

The judgment by the Supreme Court on the demerger ofthe North and East provinces was a classic case where racism got the better of jurisprudence. Addressing a gathering in Trincomalee on June 07, 2009 the former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva claimed he carefully studied the Sinhala heritage in the provinces before delivering the judgment.

We blame the Western countries, notably the US which by banning the LTTE and providing arms, intelligence, surveillance, etc. gave the Rajapakse government a green light to decimate the Thamils and is guilty of aiding and abetting a rogue state. Rajapakse simply exploited the cynical cry of “War against terrorism” to defeat the LTTE, impose Sinhala hegemony and subjugate the Thamil race.

The Canadian government voted to give a whopping US 2.6 billion (690 million more than the amount asked) to a government that is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Hitherto the international community demonized the LTTE ,which fought a liberation war that mirrored Thamil aspirations, as a “terrorist organization” engaged in suicide bombings, child soldiers, human shields and "terrorism". Such conditions no longer exist according to the Sri Lankan government's own proclamations. Now the international community has no excuse to stand by and watch the continuing violence of genocidal proportions against an entire people. The New York Times in an editorial said "The time for silence is over. The best way to help the Thamils is by demanding their freedom and an end to their long ordeal.”

The vanity, avarice and arrogance demonstrated by the Sinhala rulers with a servile media are mind boggling.

We repeat the charge that the arrest, detention, trial and conviction of Tissanayagam are racially motivated. Based on our past experience, we realise the futility of appealing or pleading with the international community and lame duck UNO, UNHRC for justice and fairness.

Unless the international community displays political will to see the true nature of the Sri Lankan polity, where racism has infected the entire political and judicial system, there is no hope for peace, stability and security.

The US Declaration of Independence states rather pompously, “We hold these truths to be as self-evident that all men are created equal,” but who is listening? Karl Marx put it, perhaps, not very differently: "Philosophers have interpreted the world, the point, however, is to change it.”
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Tissainayagam's Statement to the Court

"Although I told all this when questioned at the TID, they never wrote these things down, and even when Razik dictated for me to write down he left all this out..."

By J.S. Tissainayagam, March 20, 2009

By writing the two articles referred to in the indictment, I never intended to cause violence or communal disharmony and no such thing ever occurred as a result of those articles. This is all I have to say.

Tissainayagam: I always agitated against violence, fought for justice for oppressed

Full text of Tissainayagam’s statement to the Court follows:

I wish to commence this statement with a brief introduction about my home.

J S Tissainayagam September 2 2009My father was a government servant for 40 years. He served at the Department of Information and retired as its Director. Later he worked in the Prime Minister’s office as an Assistant Secretary and was the speech writer to the Prime Minister. I grew up in an environment of mixed ethnic groups in Colombo. In school too, my friends were from all the different ethnic communities of our country. My first language is very much English and although I can speak Tamil, I am not very fluent in Tamil. After my high school I entered Peradeniya University and studied in English. There too, all my friends were from different ethnic backgrounds.

I joined the Sunday Times in 1987 after university and later have worked as a journalist in a few English language national newspapers. I joined MARGA in 1989, pioneered discussions and engaged in research on how to solve the national issue peacefully.

While I was at Marga and later also, I helped OPFMD (Organisation of Parents and Family Members of the Disappeared :

* I helped the families of the disappeared persons from the South due to insurrection by collecting information and translating them into English to send to organisations such as the Amnesty International and the UN.

* Vasudeva Nanayakkara and HE Mahinda Rajapakshe gave it political leadership and took the documents to Geneva.

* Was always worried for the safety of the civilians.

* Intention was to stop the killing of youth, whoever they were.

Although I told all this when questioned at the TID, they never wrote these things down, and even when Razik dictated for me to write down he left all this out.

I spoke up for the employees and as a consequence my services were terminated. I filed an application in the labour Tribunal and was awarded compensation. Although Marga appealed to the High Court, it was dismissed.

1994 to 1995 – I worked on a project for UNICEF through an organization called “The Medium”. Went to the East and did a documentary on children left parentless due to the conflict due to activities of the LTTE, JVP, EPRLF, IPKF, State created violence and other paramilitary groups.

This was also left out of all my statements.

Disappearance Commission – 1994 to 96: I helped them in various ways, collected info, translated them into English, helped to coordinate with families. This was also left out of all my statements.

Knowledge of Tamil: I am not fluent in Tamil, my work has always been in English. I can speak Tamil, but am not fluent. For the first time after I left school I was made to write in Tamil when Razik forced me to take down what he dictated. This is what is now claimed to be my confession. I never wrote it on my own and I stand by the evidence I gave at the voir dire.

I was also scared of my eye conditions since I have had surgery for retinal detachment. If it recurred, I would go blind fully. Therefore even when I protested as the factual inaccuracies what is said to be my confession, I wrote it since Razik threatened me and also told me that I would be released soon if I co operated. He said that they had to send it to the Supreme Court.

Charge under the PTA: It is unfair and illegal to charge me under the PTA for acts said to have been committed during the operation of the Ceasefire Agreement when the government had given an undertaking to relax the operation of PTA and allowed the free movement of the people from North and South into both LTTE and government controlled areas.

I travelled to the North and East during the CFA, as a journalist, collected information about life there to include in my writings, interviewed people from a vast spectrum such as political leaders, religious leaders, scholars, the displaced people activists, NGO, LTTE leaders. I personally know that many other journalists also travelled to the North and East during this time for the same purpose. I have also spoken on the telephone many times with persons who lived in those places to obtain information.

A person called Baba never offered me any money. I never received money from him or the LTTE.

North Eastern Monthly was run on a commercial basis. It was sold at bookshops like Vijitha Yapa and Makeen Bookshop. There were subscribers too. The Account Number in which to deposit the subscription money was printed in the North Eastern Monthly from the January 2007. Therefore the Account Number was available to anyone who bought the magazine.

I was and am still an advocate against terrorism. I have criticized terrorism in whatever form. I never advocated violence, my objective was to generate non violent means of resolving the conflict, my research, writings and work was towards achieving this.

OPFMD was at one stage involved in securing the release of soldiers and policemen captured by the LTTE. They made contact with the LTTE for this purpose and travelled to the Vanni also. In order to arrange these trips, I have often spoken on the phone in Tamil I could manage with their contact persons. This was also left out of all my statements.

I am a non violent person and always agitated against violence and for justice for the oppressed. By writing the two articles referred to in the indictment, I never intended to cause violence or communal disharmony and no such thing ever occurred as a result of those articles. This is all I have to say.

-Sri Lanka Guardian