Sri Lanka slammed for jailing journo

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Sri Lankan prison officials escort Tamil journalist J S Tissainayagam to a prison bus. — AFP

COLOMBO, Sept 1 (AFP): Sri Lanka faced a barrage of condemnation Tuesday for the jailing of a journalist whose sentencing drew criticism from the US and warnings about censorship from press freedom groups.
New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to overturn the Colombo High Court order sentencing Tamil reporter J S Tissainayagam to 20 years of hard labour.
"The Rajapakse administration should drop the case against this well-respected journalist whose only 'crime' was to express his political views," HRW director Brad Adams said in a statement.
He said the case "furthered the impression in Sri Lanka and abroad that Tissainayagam's prosecution is part of a government campaign of repression against independent media."
After the verdict, US State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said that Washington was "disappointed to learn of the verdict and the severity of the sentence."
"We continue to be concerned about the state of media freedom in Sri Lanka. Journalists remain under threat and consequently continue to practise self-censorship," he told the reporter in Washington.
In May, US President Barack Obama had cited Tissainayagam as one of several "emblematic examples" of persecuted journalists across the world.
The local media reported the court verdict without editorial comment. Media activists said the lack of public debate about the verdict underscored the climate of fear among local journalists.
Tissainayagam, 45, who contributed to the local Sunday Times and ran a website, Outreachsl.com, was found guilty under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
He was convicted of receiving money from the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to fund his website and causing racial hatred through his writings about Tamils affected by the conflict.