Insight By Sunil Kumar

August 31st 2009
In Colombo, Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ yesterdayƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a Sri Lankan reporter was sentencedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to 20 years in prison on charges of violating the country’s strict anti-terror laws. There can be no leniencies towards indicting and incarcerating through the Nation’s Justice System, anyone who violates this to the extent of publishing treasonous material which the journalist in question J.S. Tissainayagam has been found guilty of. Harsh thought the judgement may be in the eyes of some it seems a necessary one!
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His bold and excessively exaggerated articles in the now-defunct Northeastern Monthly magazine in 2006 and 2007 whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ criticized theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Government’s conduct of the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels and accused authorities of withholding food and other essential items from Tamil-majority areas as a tool of war has cost him dearly.
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He should however consider himself fortunate as perhaps if thisƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  had happened in a country like China the punishment would have been much more severe. There is nothing to justify such publications by a journalist regardless of whetherƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ he has won the highest Awards France could offer to a Journalist or whether US President Barack Obama has cited him as a brave individual as it is still a violation of A Sovereign Democratic Nation’s Laws of The Land and a felony!
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There is no getting behind the fact that theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ subject content of journalist Tissainayagam in these publications for which he wasƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ jailedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was directed at the Government of Sri Lanka and theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  conviction, 17 months after the ethnic Tamil reporter was arrested, whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was the first time a journalist was found guilty of violating the country’s Prevention of Terrorism ActƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ could possibly not be the last!
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On the issue of Human Rights groups having accused the Government of waging a broad crackdown on media freedoms, despite the hoopla and hype involvedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ there should be no qualms about carrying out the relevant justice and meting out punishments as the person charged must well have known the existence of the Prevention of Terrorism Act unless he was impared or ignorant of the Act and the severe penalties it carries which if true has only himself and his associates to blame andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Government of Sri Lanka has done wellƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in executing the ratified penalties which go with the related issue despite International bickering that has continued sinceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the completeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ demiseƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of the rebelsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ byƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Government Forces whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ended the Nation’sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ long standingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ internal armed insurrection by the Tamil TigersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in May.
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Labelling Tissainayagam, a prisoner of conscience byƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Amnesty International bears little relevance to the greater importance of how he seems to have conveniently circumvented reporting in accuracy the attrocities of the Tamil Tigers who almost destroyed and nearly brought the Nation of Sri Lanka to her knees through years of armed terrorism and that’s where the real conscience should be rather than the definition of Amnesty which as usual has chosen to interfere into the internal affairs of a Sovereign Nation which is not obliged to dance to Amnesty’s or for that matter anyone else’sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  tunes for the purpose of their convenience whilst attracting cheap global publicity in the process whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the group isƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  particularlyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ known ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ for according to many observers.
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Mr TissainayagamƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was arrested in March 2008 and indicted five months later under the Anti-Terror Law.
During his World Press Freedom Day address in May and consequently US President Barack Obama highlighted Tissainayagam’s case as an example of journalists being jailed or harassed for doing their jobs which has become purely a matter of US presidential opinionƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  which does not seem to acknowledge the severity of Tissainayagam’s motivations where it has been proven that he has openly colluded with the Tamil Tigers and therein lies the severity of Tissainayagam’s actions which has provoked Governmental response. Has the President also forgotten some of the Prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay whose criminalities have yet to be proven despite languishing in jail cells with ball and chains around their legs whose only crime as apparent in some cases is being at the wrong place at the wrong time whereas Tissainayagam has obviously flaunted the Law in Sri Lanka and committed treason in the eyes of the Law!!
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When in June 2009, the GovernmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  with no mincing of wordsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ has unequivocally said it would re-establish a powerfulƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Press Council with the authority to jail journalists it finds guilty of defamation or inaccurate reporting it has taken a very appropriate stand with a no nonsense attitudeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and zero tolerance towards false news reporting which seems rampant and rifeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in Sri Lanka inƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ these days and at times not only misleading and exaggerated but also very maliciousƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  orchestrated by sympathisers of the Tamil Tigers.
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The Government has every right to defend the credibilities of the Nation as the Tamils Tigers the world knows now are a vanquised entity! The ony logical conclusion one can arrive at regarding the Tissainayagam verdict is that Breaching Protocols governing press freedoms relative to the Prevention of Terrorism ActƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to pander to terrorists is illegal regardless of who gets sanctimonious about it!