By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
Vetribel Jaseeharan, a publisher for North Eastern Monthly, and his wife Vadivel Valarmathi, were charged with conspiracy to discredit the government. He and his wife were detained for articles they published in their magazine. They were acquitted of all charges.
The judge stated that a confession where Jaseeharan admitted to supporting the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels was gained while under duress and that the medical records presented showed signs he had been tortured. A court official said, “The attorney general withdrew the charges as the judge noted that the confession was not made voluntarily.”
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were a rebel group in Sri Lanka who had been fighting the government for the last two decades, with armed uprising beginning in 1983. Government troops finally defeated the Tamil Tigers in May, when the Tigers finally laid down their guns, ending a long civil war. International press groups however, say that Sri Lankan Journalists are still burdened with major restrictions on reporting.
J.S. Tissainayagam, a reporter for the North Eastern Monthly, and the man who wrote the two articles which Jaseeharan and his wife published, was in August sentenced to 20 years in prison. The found him guilty of “causing communal disharmony”, “racial hatred” and raising money for “terrorism” through his writings about the victimized Tamils during the war. The international Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the world’s largest organization of journalists condemned the judgment, which in addition sentenced Tissainayagam to hard labor while in prison.
The court stated that the only offense of Jaseeharan was to publish the articles written by Tissainayagam.
Several Sri Lankan reporters have been killed in recent years by unidentified groups. Lasantha Wickrematunga, a leading anti-establishment editor was among the many victims, he was shot dead near his office. Government figures show that nine journalists were killed and another 27 assaulted in the past three years, with activists stating that more than a dozen journalists have been killed.
For information, please see:
International New 24/7- Tamil Reporter Jailed for 20 Years on Terror Charges – 31 August 2009
BBC NEWS- Detained Tamil Publisher is Freed – 26 October 2009
Khaleej Times- Sri Lanka Frees Publisher Held for 19 Months – 26 October 2009
The Peninsula- Colombo Frees Publisher Held for 19 Months -27 October 2009
Global Security.Org- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
