Athas, Humiliate Sri Lanka in the face of International Community, Says SLA Spokesman

Colombo – The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said Iqbal Athas humiliate Sri Lanka in the face of the International Community.

He was insulting the soldiers who are fighting terrorism by shrewdly manipulating the military situation in the north and east in favour of the rebels, while posing off as a defence analyst and columnist and he should be known as a traitor, he said.

Iqbal Athas, defence correspondent and assistant editor of The Sunday Times, was given police protection after a series of threats by members of security forces angered by his exposure of arms deals.

Athas exposed a deal involving the purchase of Mig 27 fighter jets and was accused of creating a national security threat in doing so.

The FMM believe the removal of Athas’ police protection, announced on August 16, to be retribution for his exposure of the deal.

The Sri Lanka is among the worst place in the earth, said The International Press Freedom Mission, which includes IFEX members the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), International Press Institute (IPI) and RSF all of  their visit to Sri Lanka in last June.

The press release from The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) which represents over 600,000 journalists in 114 countries, says, attacks against Sri Lankan journalists signal choking press freedom.

“So long as journalists continue to be subjected to fear and attacks on their personal security, Sri Lanka cannot be assured of a free press that is capable of serving the public’s fundamental right to know”, IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

The IFJ urges the authorities to step up protection for journalists suffering harassment.

"The FMM expresses it serious concern at the continuing violence directed against journalists and the media in the country," the Free Media Movement (FMM) said in a statement.

The seriously worsening situation in Sri Lanka for the journalists and journalism are continuing unabated in Sri Lanka with impunity especially for the Tamil journalist and making journalists to abandon their profession or flee the country, according to another media rights group in Colombo.

Free Media Movement (FMM) said, attacks, killings and abductions of media staff and journalists are on the increase, not a single investigation into attacked, abducted and murdered journalist has been carried out to completion by Sri Lanka's government. At least 10 media workers killed in Jaffna since May 2006.

Many international governments threatened Sri Lanka with possible economic, arms and ammunition sanction while many rights groups called for International Monitoring Mission to Sri Lanka citing lawlessness in the country and the human rights abuses records against journalists and civilians according to media reports.