{"id":46676,"date":"2012-06-29T04:11:12","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T04:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=46676"},"modified":"2015-06-01T02:42:19","modified_gmt":"2015-05-31T21:12:19","slug":"wikileaks-gota-angry-with-editors-lalith-allahakkon-and-iqbal-athas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-gota-angry-with-editors-lalith-allahakkon-and-iqbal-athas\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Gota Angry With Editors Lalith Allahakkon And Iqbal Athas"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Colombo Telegraph –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBalasuriya and Jayantha said the Defense Secretary had expressed anger at other journalists, including Nation editor Lalith Allahakoon and Defense columnist Iqbal Athas: \u2018what he’s doing is very harmful.\u2019 Athas told Pol chief that pressure on him had increased considerably since Noyhar’s abduction. He complained that the private radio station TNL (note: owned by the brother of opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe) had aired a talk show insulting Athas, which he said consisted of \u2018an hour of vulgar vituperation.\u2019 Athas linked this to the Defense Secretary’s “offensive” against the media.\u201d the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Iqbal Athas<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lalith Allahakkoon<\/p><\/div>\n

Secretary to the ministry of Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa made above remarks with\u00a0Sanath Balasooriya,\u00a0the president \u00a0of Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association\u00a0and it’s\u00a0secretary Poddala Jayantha.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span>\u00a0found the related leaked cable from the\u00a0WikiLeaks<\/a><\/span>\u00a0database dated June 2, 2008. The cable is classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d and written by the US Ambassador to Colombo Robert Blake. The cable details the media suppression situation just after the abduction and beating of defense journalist Keith Noyahr. The cable also details a meeting Secretary to the ministry of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa and two media workers Sanath Balasooriya and Poddala jayantha has had with.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The badly beaten Noyahr being rushed to Hospital – Chrisantha Cooray, the CEO of the company that publishes the Nation and its Sinhala-language sister newspaper Rivira, had fled to London<\/p><\/div>\n

Under the subheading \u201cNewspaper Executives fear for their lives, families<\/strong>\u201d the US ambassador wrote \u201cAllahakoon told DCM, Pol Chief and Public Affairs Counselor on May 29 that he had called President Rajapaksa immediately on the night of Noyahr’s disappearance and that the President had said he would \u2018do everything\u2019 to assure Noyahr’s return. Allahakoon credited the intensive campaign he and other friends of Noyahr mounted overnight with saving the journalist’s life. Allahakoon believed that the purpose of the abduction and beating of Noyahr was to try to determine which military commanders were leaking information to journalists. He reported that Noyahr had told him he had received threats that his family would be the next victims if he spoke about his abduction. Therefore, Noyahr would not make a statement to police about what happened to him. He told us that the Nation editorial offices and his home were under surveillance, and that he had received threats. Padmakumara had called him and told him to be very careful. He had moved his family from their home to a commercial district hotel as a precaution, but his children were afraid to leave the hotel to go to school. He was seeking to leave Sri Lanka temporarily until the current crisis subsided, he said.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Unknown group had invaded the residence of the defense reporter Sirimevan Kasthuriarachchi of the Sinhala-language Divaina at 4 a.m. and threatened him<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Frederica Jansz reported to police that someone had slashed the throat of a rooster and left the carcass outside her office<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAllahakoon said that Chrisantha Cooray, the CEO of the company that publishes the Nation and its Sinhala-language sister newspaper Rivira, had fled to London. Nation staff were afraid to report to work because of the heavy surveillance of its offices. He also feared the consequences of not publishing a paper on Sunday, since the government might regard this as an affront. He had therefore asked the editor of a small-circulation weekly to put out an innocuous, slimmed-down edition to avoid incurring the government’s displeasure. Sri Lankan media reported on June 1 that Cooray had resigned from the publishing company and that the London-Based Sena Yaddahige, 51% owner of the newspapers, was negotiating to sell his remaining stake to Sujit \u2018Nissanka\u2019 Rajapaksa. (Note: the relationship between Nissanka and the family of President Rajapaksa is not established.)\u201d Blake further wrote.<\/p>\n

Under the subheading \u201cFurther reports of harassment and intimidation<\/strong>\u201d the ambassador wrote \u201cThere have been several other incidents of harassment and intimidation of journalists in recent days: — Another contributor to the Nation complained to the police that a white van was following her. When she confronted the occupants of the car, they began to question her about her work as a journalist.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tamil journalist P. Devakumar, who worked for both Sirasa and MTV, was stabbed to death<\/p><\/div>\n

On Thursday she reported to police that someone had slashed the throat of a rooster and left the carcass outside her office. A group of unidentified men in a jeep were surveilling her house. — The Free Media Movement issued a statement on May 31 that an unknown group had invaded the residence of the defense reporter of the Sinhala-language Divaina at 4 a.m. and threatened him. When he protested that he was a veteran and that his brother was missing in action against the Tamil Tigers, the group told him that regardless of who he was, reporting of matters related to defense was to stop immediately. — The Sri Lanka Press Institute reported that on May 27 armed men dressed in Army uniforms entered its offices and inquired about the identities of those working there. They refused to identify themselves but said they were with military intelligence. The Press Institute refused them access, or to provide such information. Military spokesman Nanayakkara later denied that the intruders could have been from the armed forces, stating that there was no authority for military intelligence to make such inquiries. — On May 28, Tamil journalist P. Devakumar, who worked for both Sirasa and MTV, was stabbed to death, along with a companion, on the way to his home near Jaffna. It appears unlikely, however, that this murder, one of several killings of journalists in Jaffna in the last two years, was closely related to the other recent cases in Colombo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below we give\u00a0the relevant part of the confidential cable;<\/p>\n

Posts related to this cable;<\/strong><\/p>\n

WikiLeaks:\u2018There Will Be No Investigation, No One Will Be Able To Find Out What Happened To Keith\u2019 \u2013 Gota<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

WikiLeaks: Large Numbers Of Military Personnel \u201cRevered Fonseka Like A God\u201d \u2013 Gota<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

VZCZCXRO8831\r\nOO RUEHBI RUEHLMC\r\nDE RUEHLM #0528\/01 1541314\r\nZNY CCCCC ZZH\r\nO 021314Z JUN 08\r\nFM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO\r\nTO RUEHC\/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8203\r\nINFO RUEHKA\/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0926\r\nRUEHIL\/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 7915\r\nRUEHKT\/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 6090\r\nRUEHLO\/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 4421\r\nRUEHNE\/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 2072\r\nRUEHNY\/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 4402\r\nRUEHKO\/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 3497\r\nRUEHCG\/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 8526\r\nRUEHBI\/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 5971\r\nRUEHON\/AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY 0667\r\nRUEHGV\/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2799\r\nRHHMUNA\/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY\r\nRHEFDIA\/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRHEHAAA\/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEHBS\/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY\r\nRUEHLMC\/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION PRIORITY<\/pre>\n
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 COLOMBO 000528 \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INS \r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 06\/02\/2018\r\nTAGS: PGOV<\/a> PHUM<\/a> PTER<\/a> MOPS<\/a> PREL<\/a> CE<\/a>\r\nSUBJECT: SRI LANKA: DEFENSE MINISTRY MOBILIZES AGAINST\r\nMEDIA CRITICS \r\n\r\nREF: COLOMBO 507 \r\n\r\nClassified By: AMBASSADOR ROBERT O. BLAKE, JR. REASONS: 1.4(b,d). \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>1.  (C) SUMMARY: The Defense Secretary summoned two media\r\nworkers from the government-owned publishing house.  He\r\nreportedly harangued them for over two hours for\r\nparticipating in a rally to protest the abduction and beating\r\nof defense journalist Keith Noyahr.  The journalists told us\r\nthat Gothabaya told them that \"groups that revere Army\r\nCommander Fonseka\" would kill them if they persisted in their\r\ncampaign for media freedom.  Five media organizations\r\nreleased a letter to the Defense Secretary deploring his\r\nactions.  Several other journalists reported surveillance,\r\nharassment and intimidation by shadowy groups likely linked\r\nto the Defense Ministry.  The CEO of the independent\r\nnewspaper Noyahr works for has fled the country.  The paper's\r\neditor told us he fears for his life and for his family and\r\nmay seek temporary refuge abroad.  The paper's majority owner\r\nis reportedly negotiating to divest his shares in the\r\ncompany.  Government spokesmen have generally been dismissive\r\nof the threats to the media.  The Defense Ministry will\r\nreportedly seek draconian censorship and criminal defamation\r\nlegislation to shut down any criticism of the government's\r\nconduct of the war.  The campaign against media critics of\r\nthe administration appears aimed at discovering their sources\r\nwithin the military's disgruntled officer corps and is likely\r\nlinked to the Army Commander's effort to gain another\r\nextension of his term beyond the normal retirement age.  End\r\nsummary. \r\n\r\nDefense Secretary Threatens Media Workers\r\n----------------------------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>2.  (U) On May 23, following the abduction and brutal assault\r\non the defense correspondent of the weekly \"Nation\" (reftel),\r\nthe Working Journalists Association, Federation of Media\r\nEmployees trade union, Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum, Sri\r\nLanka Tamil Journalists Association, and the Free Media\r\nMovement held a protest rally at Colpetty junction (near the\r\nPresident's residence and office as well as the U.S.\r\nEmbassy).  The demonstrators demanded that the government\r\nbring the perpetrators of the attack on Noyahr to justice. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>3.  (SBU) Sunanda Deshapriya, the founder of the Free Media\r\nMovement, accompanied Sanath Balasuriya and Poddala Jayantha,\r\nthe President and General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Working\r\nJournalists Association, to a meeting with DCM and Pol Chief\r\non May 28.  Balasuriya and Jayantha are also employees of the\r\ngovernment-owned Lake House media group, which publishes the\r\nDaily News and vernacular newspapers.  (They explained that\r\nthey had been subject to an informal ban on writing for about\r\ntwo years and had been relegated to performing administrative\r\nwork within Lake House.)  According to Balasuriya and\r\nJayantha, Lake House chairman Bandula Padmakumara informed\r\nthem on May 26 that Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rakapaksa was\r\nsummoning them to a meeting, which took place the same day. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>4.  (C) Balasuriya and Jayantha reported that when they\r\nentered Rajapaksa's office, Padmakumara and Media Centre for\r\nNational Security head (and Presidential media advisor)\r\nLakshman Hulugalle were already inside.  Rajapaksa harangued\r\nthem for two and half hours, they said.  Padmakumara and\r\nHulugalle thwarted three attempts they made to break off the\r\nmeeting and leave.  Deshapriya, who speaks English more\r\nfluently that Balasuriya and Jayantha, largely provided the\r\nfollowing account of their encounter with the Defense\r\nSecretary.  Rajapaksa said that as Lake House employees, they\r\nwere government servants who had no rights to take part in\r\nprotests.  Further, he said that criticism of the military\r\nleadership, particularly Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, and\r\nthe conduct of the war would not be tolerated.  He told the\r\nmedia workers that there were large numbers of military \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000528  002 OF 005 \r\n\r\npersonnel who \"revered Fonseka like a God,\" and that he could\r\nnot control these people.  The reporters said that he\r\nthreatened them with death, saying that if they persisted in\r\ntheir criticism \"people who know how to do it will finish you\r\noff.\" \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>5.  (C) The journalists responded that the rally they\r\nattended was for the purpose of highlighting the assault on\r\nNoyahr.  Rajapaksa replied that they were \"not here to\r\ndiscuss that.  You are here to listen to me.\"  Hulugalle said\r\nthat he had videotapes of a speech by Balasuriya in which he\r\ncriticized Fonseka.  (Balasuriya told us he had made such a\r\nspeech but never mentioned Fonseka by name.)  Rajapaksa told\r\nthem such conduct was equivalent \"to becoming a suicide\r\nbomber,\" like journalist Munusami Parameshwari of the\r\nnewspaper Mawbima (since defunct), who was detained for four\r\nmonths last year for writing critical articles.  Deshapriya\r\nnoted that Parameshwari gave up her profession after her\r\nfamily was subsequently attacked at home by Sinhalese\r\nextremists.  He said the Free Media Movement had helped the\r\nfamily find refuge in India. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>6.  (C) Rajapaksa reportedly went on to say that the\r\ninvestigation of the Noyahr incident would lead nowhere.\r\n\"There will be no investigation.  It will reach a certain\r\npoint and stop.  No one will be able to find out what\r\nhappened.\"  He castigated journalists in general for focusing\r\nattention on Sri Lanka's human rights record.  \"Human rights\r\nmean nothing.  We do not want to be bothered about it while\r\nwe're fighting a war.  Because of the international campaign,\r\nwe can't arrest anyone.  But I don't care; I will do what I\r\nwant.  The military will campaign for criminal defamation\r\nlaws to stop all this.  The fundamental rights provisions of\r\nthe Constitution have to be repealed.\" \r\n\r\n\"Reprimand of senior journalists unacceptable\"\r\n--------------------------------------------- - \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>7.  (U) On May 28, the five media organizations which had\r\ncalled for the protest condemned the threats against their\r\ncolleagues, issuing a joint statement which reads, in part\r\n(begin citation): \r\n\r\n\"We are extremely disappointed and very concerned to discover\r\nthat you summoned and reprimanded Sanath Balasuriya and\r\nPoddala Jayantha... over the protest campaign organised by\r\nour five media organisations against the abduction and\r\ninhuman assault of The Nation journalist Keith Noyahr...  We\r\nheld this protest campaign peacefully and under the freedom\r\nof expression enshrined in our constitution.  We openly\r\nstated that if the government does not apprehend the culprits\r\nand attempts to impair and impede the investigation, we hold\r\nit responsible for this heinous crime.  We understand that\r\nyour position as articulated to the President and General\r\nSecretary of the SLWJA over two hours spent in your office\r\nwas as follows:\r\n- That it is unacceptable to criticise the armed forces\r\nwhilst working in state newspapers.\r\n- That anyone other than the leaders of the armed forces can\r\nbe criticised.\r\n- That the aim of our protest was to criticise the armed\r\nforces and that cannot be permitted.\r\n- If both journalists continue criticising the military,\r\nneither the Secretary of Defence nor the regime are in a\r\nposition to prevent action taken against them by groups or\r\npersons who revere the Army Commander.\" (end citation) \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>8.  (C) Balasuriya and Jayantha said the Defense Secretary\r\nhad expressed anger at other journalists, including Nation\r\neditor Lalith Allahakoon and Defense columnist Iqbal Athas:\r\n\"what he's doing is very harmful.\"  Athas told Pol chief that\r\npressure on him had increased considerably since Noyhar's\r\nabduction.  He complained that the private radio station TNL \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000528  003 OF 005 \r\n\r\n(note: owned by the brother of opposition leader Ranil\r\nWickremesinghe) had aired a talk show insulting Athas, which\r\nhe said consisted of \"an hour of vulgar vituperation.\"  Athas\r\nlinked this to the Defense Secretary's \"offensive\" against\r\nthe media. \r\n\r\nNewspaper Executives fear for their lives, families\r\n--------------------------------------------- ------ \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>9.  (C) Allahakoon told DCM, Pol Chief and Public Affairs\r\nCounselor on May 29 that he had called President Rajapaksa\r\nimmediately on the night of Noyahr's disappearance and that\r\nthe President had said he would \"do everything\" to assure\r\nNoyahr's return.  Allahakoon credited the intensive campaign\r\nhe and other friends of Noyahr mounted overnight with saving\r\nthe journalist's life.  Allahakoon believed that the purpose\r\nof the abduction and beating of Noyahr was to try to\r\ndetermine which military commanders were leaking information\r\nto journalists.   He reported that Noyahr had told him he had\r\nreceived threats that his family would be the next victims if\r\nhe spoke about his abduction.  Therefore, Noyahr would not\r\nmake a statement to police about what happened to him.   He\r\ntold us that the Nation editorial offices and his home were\r\nunder surveillance, and that he had received threats.\r\nPadmakumara had called him and told him to be very careful.\r\nHe had moved his family from their home to a commercial\r\ndistrict hotel as a precaution, but his children were afraid\r\nto leave the hotel to go to school.  He was seeking to leave\r\nSri Lanka temporarily until the current crisis subsided, he\r\nsaid. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>10.  (C) Allahakoon said that Chrisantha Cooray, the CEO of\r\nthe company that publishes the Nation and its\r\nSinhala-language sister newspaper Rivira, had fled to London.\r\n Nation staff were afraid to report to work because of the\r\nheavy surveillance of its offices.  He also feared the\r\nconsequences of not publishing a paper on Sunday, since the\r\ngovernment might regard this as an affront.  He had therefore\r\nasked the editor of a small-circulation weekly to put out an\r\ninnocuous, slimmed-down edition to avoid incurring the\r\ngovernment's displeasure.  Sri Lankan media reported on June\r\n1 that Cooray had resigned from the publishing company and\r\nthat the London-Based Sena Yaddahige, 51% owner of the\r\nnewspapers, was negotiating to sell his remaining stake to\r\nSujit \"Nissanka\" Rajapaksa.  (Note: the relationship between\r\nNissanka and the family of President Rajapaksa is not\r\nestablished.) \r\n\r\nFurther reports of harassment and intimidation\r\n--------------------------------------------- - \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>11.  (SBU) There have been several other incidents of\r\nharassment and intimidation of journalists in recent days: \r\n\r\n-- Another contributor to the Nation complained to the police\r\nthat a white van was following her.  When she confronted the\r\noccupants of the car, they began to question her about her\r\nwork as a journalist.  On Thursday she reported to police\r\nthat someone had slashed the throat of a rooster and left the\r\ncarcass outside her office.  A group of unidentified men in a\r\njeep were surveilling her house. \r\n\r\n-- The Free Media Movement issued a statement on May 31 that\r\nan unknown group had invaded the residence of the defense\r\nreporter of the Sinhala-language Divaina at 4 a.m. and\r\nthreatened him.  When he protested that he was a veteran and\r\nthat his brother was missing in action against the Tamil\r\nTigers, the group told him that regardless of who he was,\r\nreporting of matters related to defense was to stop\r\nimmediately. \r\n\r\n-- The Sri Lanka Press Institute reported that on May 27\r\narmed men dressed in Army uniforms entered its offices and \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000528  004 OF 005 \r\n\r\ninquired about the identities of those working there.  They\r\nrefused to identify themselves but said they were with\r\nmilitary intelligence.  The Press Institute refused them\r\naccess, or to provide such information.  Military spokesman\r\nNanayakkara later denied that the intruders could have been\r\nfrom the armed forces, stating that there was no authority\r\nfor military intelligence to make such inquiries. \r\n\r\n-- On May 28, Tamil journalist P. Devakumar, who worked for\r\nboth Sirasa and MTV, was stabbed to death, along with a\r\ncompanion, on the way to his home near Jaffna.  It appears\r\nunlikely, however, that this murder, one of several killings\r\nof journalists in Jaffna in the last two years, was closely\r\nrelated to the other recent cases in Colombo.<\/pre>\n
BLAKE<\/pre>\n
 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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