By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – The Colombo Magistrate Court released journalist N. Vithyatharan from jail on April 24.  He was arrested on February 26 for alleged ties with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist group fighting the government.

Vithyatharan publishes two Tamil-language daily newspapers, Uthayan in Jaffna in the northern part of the country and Sudar Oli in Colombo.

He was arrested in connection with a February 20 air attack on Colombo by two Tiger planes.  The attack killed 3 people and injured 43.

“[N.] Vithyatharan has been a respected journalist for more than 25 years in Sri Lanka,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The nature of his arrest and the allegations that he was somehow involved in an aerial attack on Colombo only point to governmental repression of critical reporting. We are concerned that like other arrested journalists he will be held for lengthy period, and hence we call for his immediate release. The forced arrest is a tactic we have seen before in Sri Lanka.”

A two month investigation by the Colombo Criminal Division (CCD), which included searching through Vithyatharan’s phone calls and bank accounts, failed to produce any evidence.

Reporters Without Borders and other press freedom organizations welcome Vithyatharan’s release and hope that the episode will open the door for other wrongfully detained journalists. “The decision of the justice system to release N. Vithyatharan is good news which should, we hope, open the way to the release of another Tamil journalist J.S. Tissanayagan, who has been held for more than a year without evidence against him, said Reporters Without Borders.

“The fact he has been completely cleared by the security services is very positive. It seems important today that officials, including Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, should accept the consequences, and apologize for the accusations made against the journalist,” it added.

In an interview, Defense Minister Gothabaya Rajapakse accused Vithyatharan of being a terrorist, stating, “He was implicated in a recent air raid. If you try to shield this person, you will have blood on your hands. And if someone says that he was arrested for his journalistic activities, then he will also have blood on his hands.”

For more information, please see:

Committee to Protect Journalists – Tamil Editor Arrested in Sri Lanka – 26 February 2009

Reporters Without Borders – Reporters Without Borders Welcomes the Release of N. Vithyatharan – 24 April 2009

Tamil National – Sudar Oli Chief Editor N. Vuthyatharan Released – 24 April 2000