The investigation into the assault on journalist Poddala Jayantha took a new turn when the police arrested and interrogated another journalist who provided the initial information about Mr. Jayantha’s abduction. Journalists groups accused the Sri Lankan police of covering up the real culprits of the abduction and the serious assault on Mr. Jayantha.
Mr. Bennet Rupasinghe, a news editor of the Lankaenews.com website, received information about the abduction of Mr. Jayantha and informed the Inspector General of Police. The timely intervention also made it possible for a group of journalist who were meeting President Rajapaksa at the time, to inform him of the incident.
However, the police arrested Rupasinghe, interrogated him and held him overnight. Thereafter, Rupasinghe’s family was also interrogated. This was followed by production of both Jayantha and Rupasinghe in court as suspects subjected to investigation. The court ordered personal bail for each of them at Rs. 500,000/=. Such heavy bail is usually ordered only on suspects of very serious crimes.
In the meantime the police have not investigated or produced the culprits that actually abducted Jayantha. It is interesting to note that immediately on information being given to the IGP the abduction was abruptly terminated and the injured Jayantha was dumped in a public place from where some persons brought him to the hospital.
For June 3, (today), there is a celebration for the war heroes and the day was declared a public holiday. Given the past experience of assassinations of journalists and the heavy campaign being carried out against them now to portray them as traitors, there is some justification to suspect that the abduction of Jayantha may have been planned for an eventual assassination. The news of the assassination in that event would have been part of the celebration and would have been seen as a lesson being taught to the traitors’.
It was, in fact, within a few days after the capture of Kilinochchi from the LTTE that the former editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated. In Sri Lanka there is a disturbing parallel between victory celebrations and attacks on journalists.
Despite of the president’s call to investigate the assault what the police have done instead is to make the very complainants the suspects in this case. This is clearly another attempt to intimidate journalists.
The failure to comply with the president’s orders appears not to have disturbed the government. Earlier promises by the president to investigate the murders of Wickrematunge and other journalists have also not been complied with. Such defiance of the orders of the head of the state should certainly have perturbed the government. However, the government seems to manifest the general attitude that such attacks need not be serious investigated.
The government has many supporters among the intellectuals and the educated classes in Sri Lanka. They too seem to be unperturbed by the provocative campaign against journalists and attacks which include assassinations. These groups which include persons, who in the past have vociferously talked about freedom of expression and democracy, manifest a tacit approval for extensive repression of people, including the media. The overall political situation, instead of turning a new page of liberty and freedom for the people by the government’s victory over the LTTE, instead seems to be regenerating a period of terror in the south.
For further information please see: SRI LANKA: Journalist attacked a civil society organisation threatened and a provocative campaign against freedom of expression continues at: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2009statements/2059/
