UPDATE – A director of London based Channel-4 TV station, Stuart Cosgrove, who managed to enter Sri Lanka on Sunday despite being blacklisted, was deported yesterday morning, Colombo media reported today.
Channel-4 Journalist And It’s Director’s Wife Deported From Sri Lanka
5th June – CT
“Shirani Sabaratnam, who works at the London-based Channel-4 TV Station as an editor and a presenter, arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday. On arrival she was detained at the airport by Sri Lankan law enforcement authorities and later deported to Britain, quoting informed sources” Colombo based Daily Mirror reports.
Stuart Cosgrove and Shirani Sabaratnam
According to Daily Mirror, the sources alleged that Ms. Sabaratnam, a former LTTE member, had arrived with her British husband from Britain via Dubai on Sunday. Her detention and subsequent deportation was the result of her being blacklisted. On being questioned by detectives, Ms. Sabaratnam admitted she had used different passports to travel to Sri Lanka’s North both during the war and after the war ended.
Authorities believe that the husband and wife were visiting Sri Lanka to do another documentary critical of the Government.
Ms. Sabaratnam was born at Vaddukoddai in Jaffna and is married to Stuart Cosgrove a director of Channel 4. They are reportedly playing a major role in Diaspora activities against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Police are looking for the husband of Sabaratnam, Stuart Cosgrove, who is reportedly staying in a luxury hotel in Colombo.
AJ / June 5, 2012
She is former ltter ? its not surprise sri lanka govt will tel even she husband also former ltte member.
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chuti / June 5, 2012
Do you feel SAD for them?… You missed one great opportunity to create another C4 bogus documentary…Isn’t It?..
When are you going to change your anti Sinhalese sentiment?
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Tamil / June 6, 2012
chuti,
we will change our anti-sinhales sentiment when we are treted as equal citizens in our land.
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asfar / June 6, 2012
nobody can treat you as equal until you all change your attitude towards other communities. it a curse of yours. not ours.
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suz / June 5, 2012
in future tamils can join the royal family and take srilanka under tamil-british.
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Vasu / June 5, 2012
The biggest joke of these SL clowns. Everyone critize the SL govt is a member of LTTE. Even BBC reporters are former LTTE members and on their list. A Tamil name is enough to say she is a LTTE
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w.m.k.Samarasekara / June 5, 2012
I am affraid you too a Ltte suporter.
samarasekara
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Gowrie / June 5, 2012
Samarasekara
Tamils were protesting in front of Hilton on park Lane against the war criminal’s being in the UK and there were many Met police officers were on duty protecting these protesters. Please don’t add these Met officers to your LTTE list for goodness sake!
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Rubert Vanderkoon / June 5, 2012
The Met police cannot be blamed, because they wouldn’t know whether these guys were waving terrorist flags or their pants. However, there is no question, those who protested holding LTTE flags in London are hardcore LTTE terrorists.So is this woman. The poor people in the North, who suffered over the past 30 years, whose children were proscribed by the maniac organisation must hold people like this woman and others who live in the west but still support the ruthless terrorists to task.
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Ponniah Mahalingam / June 5, 2012
LOL oh yes, The Met was there to keep the poor protesters from being white vanned, not to keep the Tamil rowdies confined and stop them causing trouble.
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Bruno Umbato / June 5, 2012
Come on Gowrie …
Tamil net says they are not definitely former LTTE’s … Look what it says … “….The Scotland Yard allegedly leaked news that Rajapaksa would be arriving on Sunday night by a Sri Lankan Airways flight, DELIBERATELY to mislead the demonstrators, where as he arrived at London only on Monday morning, Tamil activists sources in UK told TamilNet….”
What a pathetic situation! … Very wierd! …. What a crime!
Pukka shaibs are after all not helped by the kings and the queens …. Lesson is that Kissing all the backs of the westerners does not guarantee that the eeellllammm is not a dream …
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w.m.k.Samarasekara / June 6, 2012
If that so, Why they were with Ltte’s tiger flag? Do you think we are blind to see it?
samarasekara
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w.m.k.Samarasekara / June 6, 2012
Yesterday another Ltte terrorist arested in Muthur with T 56 and ammunities.He confessed he too a media man. Could you regard him as a media man?
samarasekara
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David Blacker / June 6, 2012
Gowrie, why are the protestors carrying LTTE flags then?
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Srinivas / June 6, 2012
I think u r the clown
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Senguttuvan / June 5, 2012
Shirani Sabaratnam has a right to hold views on political matters of her choice. It may differ with mine/ours on the LTTE or any other. But detaining or arresting her for that – a foreign citizen from the Press to boot – will attract ugly consequences.
Louis Farrakhan is a Black political activist and leader in the USA who preaches toxic, sometimes racial-inspiring anti-US Govt speeches. His right to say what he feels is not denied. That does not mean the US Govt is less patriotic or nationalistic than ours. The difference is men/women of learning are fortunate to run the governance affairs of the USA whereas pea-brained pygmies run our affairs on the false belief they have divine approval.
Senguttuvan
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Upali De Soyza / June 5, 2012
If these two persons tried or indeed entered the country on false passports they should have been arrested and tried for deception, convicted sentenced to goal and then deported – not just deported. This is what would have happened in England
Why do we act so leniently? Come on Sri Lanka police throw the ‘book’ at them.
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Kapila Kahapola, UAE / June 5, 2012
She has Admitted that She did Travel to & from SriLanka Using Different passports During Peace Talks & After…
Hence she has been Black Listed & Can NOT Enter SL !!!
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Steffi / June 5, 2012
If she used two different passports to travel to Sri Lanka, she should definitely, and obviously, be detained and deported for that. She could have experienced worse punishments in other countries; Sri Lanka had been too soft on her.
She is a former LTTE member therefore she should not be welcome in Sri Lanka, or any other country, as she was part of a terrorist organisation (Over 27 countries have classed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation, including the USA, UK and Canada).
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tony / June 5, 2012
If this woman had several passports and entered the country using different names; that is a crime. She should have been fined or produced before a court of law.
If she was one of those writers for Channel 4, and had twisted the facts to present the SL Gvt as a criminal body; that again is a crime in my opinion.
The fact is, she is guilty of both of these violations. So instead of depleting her, which is not a punishment, she should have been detained further and imprisoned until she is facing a judge. At the court she would have had a chance to defend herself. That would have been a fair treatment.
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mani / June 5, 2012
all the tamils are terrorist that is the the policy of srilanka.
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hmm / June 7, 2012
Mani… no one thinks that way… its a sad misconception.
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tony / June 5, 2012
If this woman had several passports and entered the country using different names; that is a crime. She should have been fined or produced before a court of law.
If she was one of those writers for Channel 4, and had twisted the facts to present the SL Gvt as a criminal body; that again is a crime in my opinion.
The fact is, she is guilty of both of these violations. So instead of deporting her, which is not a punishment, she should have been detained further and imprisoned until she is facing a judge. At the court she would have a chance to defend herself. That would have been a fair treatment.
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bo / June 5, 2012
Good. Keep them spies and saboteurs out of our country
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Shiromi / June 5, 2012
Will UK allow anyone to enter to their country & make false stories and publish them.
What did they do to Wiki-Leaks Mr.Assange. Although any country, who talk publicaly about democracy of a another country, they do not how much democracy they have.
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Haran / June 5, 2012
Srilanka for Tamils is the Jews to German during Nazi rule. Like the Germans supported the manic Hitler the Sinhalese support the genocide regime of Srilaka!! Naming anyone who opposes the country and its atrocities as LTTE!!!
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Ponniah Mahalingam / June 5, 2012
Yes Haran, and as well all know, during Nazi rule lots of Jewish refugees who escaped Germany actually went right back to Berlin to see the opera. Just like all the Tamil “refugees” who land uninvited on western shores and then hop on the first flight back to Sri Lanka for a bit of a holiday. The parallels truly are uncanny.
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Senguttuvan / June 6, 2012
Karuna Amman, demoted from Minister to Deputy Minister – after having served someones purpose – now must be laughing his guts our reading all this. All Rules were broken, signatures forged, documents “invented” by Govt agencies to provide him with a false passport to send him to England, which also was complicit in the sickening episode. On a huge press campaign, Karuna (Muralidharan) was arrested and spent many months in jail in the UK. Nothing new here.
Senguttuvan
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Mark Webber / June 6, 2012
Senga
Is this what all so-called tamil refugees are doing to get through the back doors of the western world? What is good for you Di-Ass-Poo-ra is not good for others? You sound like one of those.
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Kanapathipillai Sivaraja / June 6, 2012
Senguttuvan
Thank you for your timely comment !!
In Sri Lanka, there is one law for the Ruling Royal Family and it’s goons and another for the rest of us.
Kanapathipillai Sivaraja
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nanda / June 6, 2012
LTTE and their supporters must stop playing with lives of sri lankans. e do not want another war. Channel 4 is working very hard on this. This incident is a proof to say that Channel 4 is run by LTTErs.
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SERUVILA SENARATH / June 6, 2012
U K GOVERNMENT HAS ALREADY MADE THE TAMIL REFUGEE SOUP >NOW STARTED TO DRINK.
SO LATER THEY WILL SEE THE RESULT.
NOW GANG FIGHTS, THEFTS, HOUSE BREAKING, DRUGS DEALING, CREDIT CARDS FRAUDS AND SOME MORE TO COME.
AND THEY WILL SHOW THE MOONS TO KING AND QUEEN IN DUE COURSE.
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Mark Webber / June 6, 2012
Hey Seruwila Pora
You seems to be good at fotune telling. God bless UK with these unruly tamil thugs. Mirror image of their beloved blood sucking well educated VP podian. Keep going DIe-Ass-Poo-ra yiu will gwt the nuts of the gaod hanging from thin scotrum.
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kris / June 6, 2012
Goog work srilanka, we do not need tamil terorist in our country she can make a report about new tamil govenment in Sky ,she opened her back to white man and now trying to sell our country to white man
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Suresh / June 6, 2012
Common Tamils living in Sri Lanka aren’t terrorists. They have had their ‘lessons’ on terrorism (from Prabhakaran and his gang), and they don’t want it back. But these Tamils in the West who wave LTTE flags are definitely terrorists; because they supported the LTTE terror, and were safe there while the commmon helpless Tamils perished here in Sri Lanka by LTTE terriorism.
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shahen / June 6, 2012
These LTTE supporters have forgotten past…. how many non tamils killed by LTTE….Aranthaalave/Sri maha bodhi sanga, muslim villages…lakshamana kadhiragamar, DR.neelam thiruchelvam, mahathaya, sabarathnam….pramadasa, lalith athulath mudhali….All these people that are protesting for LTTE have blood on their hands too….Because of their baseless/illogical aspiration issues so many tamils died and could not able to get a good education. The people who are rich could go to western countries (asylum seekers ) and spent money for war…the poor tamils died because of these rich tamils opportunities….Tamil should ask a separate state from Tamilndadu…the historical motherland of their….why they do not ask from Indian government…
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shahen / June 6, 2012
Cheguvara ones said…”The Country can not reads and writes is easy to deceived…” …When two young brothers came to fight with them….che said this…and asked them to go to their villages and lean how to read and writes…then these two boys said they do not have the facility…che started a school in their camp…chey gtort them lessons…during their freedom struggle che. did not like recruit child soldiers…”freedom struggle is all about love and discipline…”……..
Can….Cheguvara = Prabakaran……
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Christopher / June 6, 2012
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American Lanka Lover / June 6, 2012
STUPID MOVE DEPORTING HER. GOSL should have allowed her to enter and had a white van waiting for her just outside the arrivals area. Now she will continue her fundraising and propaganda activities on behalf of the LTTE. Let’s hope they are wiser with regard to her husband. Put him on a bus to Nuwara Eliya with faulty brakes.
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lana / June 7, 2012
gosh, what a load of rubbish!! She is not even working for Channel 4, she is working for another UK TV company, named UKTV. Her husband is in a management position and is not at all involved with production of documentaries. So once again SL is seen as a foolish little backwards country for no reason other then the GOSL need to spur nationalistic fevers to keep the family popular.
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