The following press release was issued by the Free Media Movement of Sri Lanka on April 17, 2007 – http://www.freemediasrilanka.org/index.php?action=con_news_full&id=523§ion=news
(We also reproduce the relevant article in the Daily Mirror referred to in this release).
The FMM is outraged to receive news that the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksha and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa threatened the Editor the Daily Mirror Champika Liyanarachchi, over the telephone on the morning of 17th April 2007.
The Defence Secretary had allegedly expressed his deep displeasure over the conflict coverage by the newspaper. Referring to a front-page news item published the previous day (Armed Karuna faction running its writ in Pottuvil – http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/04/16/front/1.asp), the Defence Secretary had said the story had angered the Karuna faction and furthermore was written against the Government. He had gone on to say that Champika should not be surprised if the Karuna faction turned violent against her. In such an eventuality, he had said that she should not expect any security from the government to protect her.
Citing another article by Daily Mirror reporter Uditha Jayasinha (Mutur IDPs: Battling a man-made tsunami in the guise of war, http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/04/17/feat/01.asp), the Defence Secretary had continued his vicious tirade by castigating the reporter and expressing his severe displeasure that the article carried negative remarks on the Sri Lankan Army by IDPs.
These statements of the Defence Secretary beggar belief. This gross misconduct of a high-placed public official clearly demonstrates the challenges facing free media in Sri Lanka today.
The FMM unequivocally deplores the threat made by the Defence Secretary and condemns what is tantamount to violence against the media. We strongly feel this latest assault on free media essentially ridicules this governments promises to uphold and strengthen media freedom.
Given the volatile situation in the country, the FMM also fears that this threat sends a chilling message to the media community at large in Sri Lanka.
The FMM notes that on previous occasions as well, government leaders had criticized Daily Mirror over is coverage of the conflict. It is an open secret that government leaders and close allies are pressurizing independent media to toe its line on war and peace.
We see this latest development as a calculated process of coercion by the Government that forces media to abandon its role watch-dog of democracy, and instead adopt the supine role of a lap dog to those in power.
The government can no longer abdicate the responsibility to prevent a further erosion of media freedom in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the FMM urgently and firmly requests the government to make its position public regarding this incident and also call upon the government to take remedial steps to ensure that loose tongues and wild imaginings of its Ministers and allies are kept in check by educating them on the need to secure and strengthen free media as a vital foundation of democratic governance.
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Armed Karuna faction running its writ in Pottuvil
By Easwaran Rutnam – Daily Mirror, April 16, 2007
The Karuna faction is said to be creating havoc in the Muslim-dominated Pottuvil town in Ampara, moving around freely with weapons in government-controlled areas while law enforcement authorities are allegedly turning a blind eye, the Daily Mirror learns.
Some Muslim youth in Pottuvil are threatening to take up arms for self-protection if Karuna cadres are not brought under control, according to sources from the area. This comes amidst allegations that the group is now playing the role of the police by urging residents to bring their concerns to the factions office in the area.
They go around with weapons on motorbikes and are said to be threatening people on the streets. They have also extorted money from people. All this is happening while the police and the STF stand around doing nothing, an area resident told the Daily Mirror.
Earlier this year the Daily Mirror reported similar activities by the Karuna faction in the Batticaloa district as well but despite concerns being raised the authorities have yet to take appropriate action to control the group who insists it is purely carrying out political work in government-held areas.
According to a police source the government had not granted any party or group, other than the police and armed forces, the authority to carry weapons and as such if Karuna cadres were seen moving around with weapons they should be taken into custody.Meanwhile, the Peace Secretariat for Muslims (PSM), a peace coordinating body set up jointly by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the National Unity Alliance, told the Daily Mirror that it had already brought up the issue with the co-chairs as a matter of urgency.
We have already brought the Pottuvil crisis to the attention of the co-chairs and are awaiting speedy action, a PSM spokesman said.
The PSM is of the opinion that what was happening in Pottuvil town and other predominantly Muslim areas in the neighbourhood heralded signs of a major clash in the
near future and said it was the responsibility of the government to avert such a catastrophe.
Maintaining law and order is the duty of the police, and in special cases the Army too has a role to play. But in Pottuvil the police including the STF and the Army have become mere by-standers while the Karuna group is running the writ through the town said the spokesman.
Muslims in Pottuvil see this as an extension of repression that existed during the LTTE regime. Whether its the rule of Prabhakaran or Karuna there is no peace for the Muslims here he added.
When the Daily Mirror contacted the Pottuvil Police we were told the Officer In Charge (OIC) was not available and that they could not comment on the said allegations.
Tensions rose in Pottuvil last week when the Karuna faction was involved in opposing a Pradeshiya Saba (PS) decision to demolish a public building opposite the Pottuvil political office of the Karuna faction also known as the Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP).
Area residents staged a hartal against the demolishing of the building while on Friday a vehicle belonging to the PS was set ablaze by an armed group after the driver was evicted.
However, Karuna faction spokesman Azad Maulana denied the allegations saying with regard to the PS issue the group had only mediated on the insistence of residents who were outraged at the demolishing of the PS building.
I too was involved in trying to resolve the issue. We got involved because the people including the Muslims wanted us to mediate. If people come to us for assistance we will not turn a deaf ear. But at the same time we go through the police and do not act on our own. We did not threaten anyone, Maulana told the Daily Mirror.
He also insisted that TMVP cadres do not roam around with weapons in government-controlled areas as alleged by several groups and added that if there were such allegations it should be taken up with the police.
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