I have repeatedly received death threats – Frederica Jansz

I have repeatedly received death threats – Frederica Jansz

Written By Sri Lanka Guardian on September 21, 2012 

Founder hacked to death in daylight, his successor sacked; the future of the “Sunday Leader” questioned

| by Nilantha Ilangamuwa

(September 21, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Here is an exclusive interview with the former editor-in-chief of the Sunday Leader, Frederica Jansz just moments after she was forced to resign by the new ownership of the paper, due to her refusing to accepted new editorial policy.

NI. Frederica, welcome to the Sri Lanka Guardian. Your services as the editor-in-chief of the Sunday Leader have been terminated as you refused to change editorial policy to support the government. What did they (owners) ask you to do? What are the basic points that you cannot stand with?

FJ. The new owner Asanga Seneviratne insisted that the articles carried in The Sunday Leader are "malicious and rubbish." He ordered me to stop being critical of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family. He also asked me stop carrying cartoons of the President. He then added to a police complaint made by Sajin Vass Gunewardena, which claimed that a nutshell carried in The Sunday Leader of September 16 would incite violence against the President.

Despite my maintaining that the type of journalism practised at The Sunday Leader was independent and unbiased he could not understand or accept this position. As for me, I cannot work for someone who does not understand or respect freedom of expression or journalistic independence and credibility.

NI. You are the editor who took sole responsibility of the Sunday Leader just after the assassination of the late Lasantha. What are the challenges you faced in the last couple of years?

FJ. The challenges have been huge. Apart from having to revive a newspaper that had suffered a staggering blow following Lasantha's assassination, I have had to deal with continuous harassment and threats including court cases and finally being insulted and maligned in a manner most degrading by the Defence Secretary, the President's brother.

NI. Do you and your family feel safe to stay in the country?

FJ. No. I have repeatedly received death threats and even been followed home.

Reporters Without Borders: Entretien avec... by rsf_internet

NI. I don’t want to reiterate words that the country’s secretary defence used in a recent interview published by the Leader. You had bitter experiences many times when you were directly dealing with those key players in the country. Can you brief us on the present political system in the country?

FJ. In terms of media freedom, the current political system will continue to stifle free of expression and the right to information. If compared to a thriving democracy, Sri Lanka continues to lag far far behind.

NI. At some point we talked about “Sri Lankan Journalism”. Do you have anything special to share with the people in this crucial time?

FJ. It is sad that journalists in Sri Lanka have chosen to be cowed into submission. Next to winning the war, this in fact is this government's second biggest success. The stifling of the local press.

NI. This is a worse stage of social control in the country by the regime. So now the Government has taken over most of print, electronic and other media, while giving the public a clear cut picture on censorship. What would be the future if this scenario continues?

FJ. An autocratic regime. With a stifled press accountability and transparency are non-existent.

NI. Do you think the opposition and the civil society can intervene to solve this stalemate?

FJ.The opposition is dead.

NI. Is there any role to be played by the international community?

FJ. I frankly do not think this government really gives a toss about the international community or what they may think or say. Other than China - and we all know their track record as far as freedom of expression is concerned.

NI. Most people welcomed the draft resolution by the US on Sri Lanka, which urges the implementation of recommendations given by the LLRC. The people of Sri Lanka expect that the government will be encouraged in the Universal Periodic Review to take gradual action, not only at the legislative level, but beyond that to implement basic principles of rule of law. Do you have any suggestions to the UPR which is going to have on next month?

FJ. Amongst the voluntary commitments undertaken by Sri Lanka, one is to “strengthen its national mechanisms and procedures to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its citizens through the adoption and implementation of the proposed National Plan of Action”. Despite the government promising to implement the targets set out in the plan by 2009, it was only in 2012 that the initial stages of implementation were underway.

NI. This is my final question. You were a remarkable and fearless editor who worked in a tremendously stressful social situation. What is your plan for the future?

FJ. Change is a part of life. So for me, this is just another opportunity for a new beginning.

Plans To Call For An Independent International Accountability Mechanism

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema-Saturday, September 22, 2012

Amendments to a US House of Representatives’ resolution on Sri Lanka calling on the Sri Lankan government, the international community and the United Nations to establish an independent international accountability mechanism to look into reports of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other human rights violations have been tabled before the House last week.
One of the amendments to the resolution state that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report has failed to adequately address issues of accountability for both the government and the  Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, for credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
However, the amendments have called on the Government of Sri Lanka to build on its establishment of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and that Commission’s constructive recommendations on issues of paramount importance to Sri Lanka be implemented in a credible, transparent, and expeditious manner.
The amendments have been proposed to resolution No. 177 titled “Expressing support for internal rebuilding, resettlement and reconciliation within Sri Lanka that are necessary to ensure a lasting peace.” The amendments have been tabled before the House on September 7.
Representative Michael G. Grimm presented the resolution on March 17, 2011, which was cosponsored by 53 members.
The resolution was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 17, 2011 and referred to the Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia on March 29, 2011.
Following is the amended resolution presented to the House of Representatives:
(1) Calls on the Government of Sri Lanka to build on its establishment of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and that Commission’s constructive recommendations on issues of paramount importance to Sri Lanka in a credible, transparent, and expeditious manner;
(2) Recognizes that the LLRC report failed to adequately address issues of accountability for both the government and the terrorist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, for credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity;
(3) Urges the Government of Sri Lanka, the international community, and the United Nations to establish an independent international accountability mechanism to look into reports of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other human rights violations committed by both sides during and after the war in Sri Lanka and to make recommendations regarding accountability;
(4) Encourages the Government of Sri Lanka to allow for greater media freedoms and humanitarian organizations, journalists, and international human rights groups greater access to the war-affected, including rehabilitated ex-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadres, and those detained;
(5) Acknowledges the end of the war and calls on the Government of Sri Lanka to go through a process of demilitarization throughout the country; and
(6) Acknowledges the importance for parties to reach a political settlement on the meaningful devolution of power. Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake who visited Sri Lanka last week said that he discussed the need for accelerated progress to implement the recommendations of the LLRC and the National Action Plan.
“I emphasized the importance of progress in reducing the role and profile of the military in the North, and full respect for human rights,” he said.  On issues of accountability, Blake said the US hoped that three years after the end of the conflict, there can be a credible and transparent accounting, investigation and prosecution of some of the outstanding and serious allegations of human rights violations, as well as progress on the missing.
“I also urged that the Northern Provincial Council elections be held as soon as possible and encouraged an early resumption of talks between the TNA and the government to agree on powers to be devolved to the provinces,” he said.

India raises Tamil issue

• September 21, 2012 
• By PARUL CHANDRA

• In meetings marking the first substantive discussions between India and Sri Lanka in over two years, New Delhi raised the issue of devolution of powers to the island nation’s Tamil provinces once again.
  The issue was raised during meetings between visiting Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Thursday evening. The PM raised the issue of devolution of powers so that Sri Lankan Tamils can look forward to a future where they can live with dignity and respect, said sources.
  Earlier, the Lankan President, whose visit comes amidst the backdrop of strident protests against it by Tamil parties, the DMK and MDMK, held discussions lasting about 45 minutes with President Pranab Mukherjee.
  The Sri Lankan leader’s visit — initially meant to be a private one to inaugurate a Buddhist university in Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, but accorded official status later — has come in the backdrop of the island nation’s unhappiness with India’s vote against it at the UNHRC (UN Human Rights Council) in March.
  India supported a US-backed resolution censuring Sri Lanka for its human rights record during the bloody civil war with the LTTE. President Rajapakse later made clear his displeasure stating that there may not have been such a resolution had India not backed it. Given Sri Lanka’s growing bilateral ties with China — the two countries have inked 16 agreements on Wednesday — New Delhi will be hoping that Mr Rajapakse’s visit will help put some balm on Colombo’s feelings.

  ASIA

Sri Lanka Sunday Leader editor Frederica Jansz sacked

By Charles Haviland-21 September 2012----Ms Jansz has been blunt in explaining her sudden departure

The editor of Sri Lanka's most outspokenly anti-government newspaper says she has been dismissed after it was was bought by a businessman who wanted it to change its editorial line.

Frederica Jansz said that she left after refusing to curb her writing style or compromise her credibility.

The previous editor of the the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was assassinated three years ago.

His murder by four masked men on motorbikes has never been solved.

The Sunday Leader has always been controversial in a country where most media censor themselves.

Many fear an adverse government reaction from the government if they do not do so.

'Telephone tirade'

News organisations critical of the government say that they have been targeted for several years

Ms Jansz has been blunt in explaining her sudden departure.

Ms Jansz said the new owner, Asanga Seneviratne, wanted her to "curb her style of writing and compromise her credibility".She told the BBC that after an associate of the family of President Mahinda Rajapaksa bought a 72% stake in the paper, he asked her to stop carrying articles critical of the Rajapaksas - several of whom occupy senior government positions.

She says that when she refused he terminated her contract.

Mr Seneviratne was not immediately available for comment.

The Sunday Leader is known for doggedly pursuing stories alleging government misdeeds.

It shot to fame towards the close of the war when Mr Wickrematunge was assassinated by men who have never been caught.

Last year Ms Jansz testified for the government against opposition politician Sarath Fonseka over a highly controversial interview which he gave.

In July, however, she openly accused the defence secretary, who is also the president's brother, of launching an obscene tirade against her on the telephone.

Media rights campaigners will be watching closely to see what direction The Sunday Leader now takes.

Government Intimidate The Judiciary – LfD

By Colombo Telegraph -

“The Statement issued by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on 16^thSeptember 2012 clearly indicates that there are various attempts to interfere with the affairs of the Judicial Services Commission. After the recent determination made by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on a Bill titled ‘Divinaguma’ political leadership of the government has expressed its dissatisfaction over the decisions made by the Supreme Court.” says Lawyers for Democracy.

Lal Wijenayaka the Convenor of the Lawyers for Democracy issued a statement rewarding ongoing intimidation against the judiciary. We below reproduce the LfD  statement in full;

Lal Wijenayaka

Lawyers for Democracy is disturbed by the emerging evidence of coordinated moves to undermine the independence of judiciary in Sri Lanka. The Statement issued by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on 16^thSeptember 2012 clearly indicates that there are various attempts to interfere with the affairs of the Judicial Services Commission. After the recent determination made by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on a Bill titled “Divinaguma” political leadership of the government has expressed its dissatisfaction over the decisions made by the Supreme Court. For example, the government has organized a public demonstration, where people were transported at public expenditure into a close location near the Parliament to criticize the Supreme Court determination. Recently, several programmes in the state media carried vicious and malicious programmes critical of the judiciary.

LfD sees this trend as a clear move by the government to intimidate the judiciary and undermine the Rule of Law and an attempt to make the judges vulnerable for governmental pressure. All public institutions are totally politicized and are at the disposal of the regime. The Judiciary is the only organ that has survived direct political interference. Therefore we urge the President and the government to respect the independence of the judiciary and take all possible steps to stop direct and indirect intimidation and incitements against the judiciary. LfD also urges the Government to ensure the State media will respect basic decency in journalistic ethics in their references to judiciary and judges. While expressing solidarity with the JSC, we remind the public that in any civilized society all individuals and institutions should respect the judiciary as the ultimate arbiter of all disputes between the State and the citizens.

Lal Wijenayaka, Attorney-at-Law

Convener

Lawyers for Democracy

Efforts Towards Reconciliation Process Not Met With Urgency

By Dinouk Colombage

Canadian High Commissioner, Bruce Levy

With his three-year term in Sri Lanka coming to an end Canada’s High Commissioner, Bruce Levy, spoke about the country’s process of reconciliation and whether he felt enough was being done.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: What is your opinion of Sri Lanka’s post war progress during your time here?

Bruce Levy: When we got here a lot of the discussion was the challenge of the resettlement of some 300,000 IDPs and that was the main focus.
I think at the end of the day the resettlement took place in a major way, certainly not a perfect way but by and large the main humanitarian concerns were met in the short-term. As that seemed to be proceeding, there seemed a natural evolution in our focus towards how the government would respond to a lot of the background problems that contributed to the 27 year period of violence. Much of the discussions that took place were focused on addressing the issues faced by the minority communities, giving them confidence that Sri Lanka would be a stable and prosperous country for all.

Q: Do you think that is being done now?

Bruce Levy: Obviously that is not a yes or no answer, so I will say that there have been efforts underway. As I leave after three years, my concern is that these efforts have not been met with the urgency we all thought they would be. There have been discussions and an awful lot of talk about the process, but at the end of the day I am struck by the fact that as I leave I will not be able to tell somebody what is the clearly articulated perspective of the leadership of Sri Lanka as to what the future of Sri Lanka should look like. To me this is an odd thing. As a non-Sri Lankan I am not going to argue against the process, but at some point the process must become substance. This is a time when the opposition and the government must be in a situation of give and take, I do not see this happening.

Q: Coming from Canada do you feel that our opposition is vocal enough for a Democratic country?

Bruce Levy: I think the opposition is vocal, but I feel it is not my place to comment any further.

Q: You mentioned reconciliation earlier. How do you feel the discussions are going between the Canadian diaspora, who are very critical, and the government?

Bruce Levy: At this stage there is a regrettable degree of mistrust on both sides towards the other. One of my main objectives on coming here was to see if we could encourage confidence building measures between the two parties. There is no question that the end of the war came, at least to those in Canada, as a bit of a shock. I think the Tamil community in Canada were terribly worried and at sea as to what they should do next. That situation has not evolved as much as I would have hoped to have seen. We can all agree that the communities in Canada have resources they could use to help rebuild Sri Lanka. But there has not been much in the way of large scale investment on their part.

Q: Do you feel having the largest contingent of Tamil diaspora strains relations with Sri Lanka or contributes to improving those relations?

Bruce Levy: I quickly discovered that there are so many groups in Canada all claiming to speak for the diaspora, and I am pretty skeptical about that. There are certain groups that hold strongly to the ideas supported by the LTTE, and this makes it more difficult in improving relations.

Q: Why do you feel these relations have not improved?

Bruce Levy: I think that goes back to the mistrust stemming from the war and the fact that there were some people in Toronto that supported illegal activities.
There is also a larger issue that goes beyond the conflict, which produces a larger issue to the government, and this is why international business is seeming to hesitate to come in to Sri Lanka?

Q: Do you feel that 27 years of war has left us ill-prepared to handle these sorts of issues?

Bruce Levy: I think that there is no question that the war held the country back. In the North and the East of the country development came to a standstill during the war, so the country has to wait till those areas now catch up.

Q: The argument has been put forth that foreign governments have been overly critical of Sri Lanka, and that they need more time. Do you agree?

Bruce Levy: I will be very frank with you. I think that issue of foreign governments being critical, and it should be mentioned that they have also been supportive, has almost been used as a further excuse for the delays. To that I say there is a very simple answer, act and foreign governments will then get behind the Sri Lankan government.

Q: The argument has been put forth that three years is not long enough and the international community must be patient. Is this a fair point?

Bruce Levy: Yes, to an extent it has only been three years. But as I said earlier it is time that some sort of application of their plans is seen. The LLRC report is a good place to start, while some recommendations will take time, there are some that could be done in a shorter period of time.

Q: In regard to the LLRC, some countries were very critical of it before it was released. They then turned around and voiced support for it after it was published. Were they being unfairly critical at the start?

Bruce Levy: I think that to a certain extent foreign governments were a little hasty in criticising the report so early on.
When the report was finally released and the government spoke about implementing its recommendations, the foreign governments supported the idea of action being taken. It must be mentioned that while we all support the LLRC report, we have said that more needs to be done.

SRI LANKA: Menik Farm IDP camp to close by 30 September

Photo: Contributor/IRIN

Menik Farm was set up in 2009

COLOMBO, 21 September 2012 (IRIN) - Menik Farm in northern Sri Lanka, once one of the world’s largest camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), is to close by the end of September, say government officials.

“By 30 September the camp will be empty,” Minister of Resettlement Gunaratne Weerakoon told IRIN in Colombo, noting that the final group of 1,185 IDPs would be resettled in their places of origin next week.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 827 IDPs are set to return on either 23 or 24 September, mostly to the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaitivu District, northern Sri Lanka. The destination of the final balance of 358 has yet to be determined.

The camp - a sprawling 700-hectare site outside the northern town of Vavuniya - was hastily erected in the final stages of the decades-long war between government forces and now defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who had been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland since 1983.

At its height at the end of the war, nearly 300,000 IDPs lived in the camp. 
Landmines                                                                                                             [ read more ]

Sri Lanka: Tip about a puppy and a

plane has political edge for Sunday Leader journalist

By Rick Westhead
Staff Reporter

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's Secretary of Defence, is seen in this file photo. The editor of the country's Sunday Leader newspaper alleges he uttered death threats after being questioned about a plane and a puppy. 

In Sri Lanka, a country notorious for its lack of press freedom, even a story about a puppy can draw a veiled death threat from the government.

Newspaper journalist Frederica Jansz last week pursued a tip that Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa had pulled some strings to help out a family friend.

Gotabaya, the younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, allegedly ordered an airplane being used for a July 13 commercial flight from Colombo to Switzerland be changed from an Airbus A-340 to a smaller A-330.

The boyfriend of Gotabaya’s niece, who is a pilot, was not qualified to fly the larger A-340, and the change would have meant 56 passengers would be told to rebook their travel, Jansz was told by an unnamed source.

She was also told Gotabaya was planning to bring back a dog from Switzerland when the flight returned to Sri Lanka on July 16.

Jansz called Gotabaya Rajapaksa for comment.

“He went crazy,” said Jansz, 44, the editor-in-chief of Sri Lanka’s Sunday Leader newspaper.

Gotabaya told Jansz he would sue if she wrote “any bloody word about this.” He also said he wasn’t “afraid of the bloody courts.”

Yet a phone call from the newspaper (the Sunday Leader is Sri Lanka’s third largest weekly with a circulation of 48,000) may have prompted Gotabaya to change his mind.

A source phoned Jansz and said the tentative changes to the original flight plan had been cancelled.

“I called Gotabaya back to tell him we weren’t running a story, but that it was not because of his barrage of insults,” Jansz said in an interview.

Gotabaya responded by telling Jansz that most Sir Lankans hate the Sunday Leader, which has made a name for itself with hard-edged investigative reporting.

“You come for a function where I am and I will tell people this is the editor of The Sunday Leader and 90 per cent there will show that they hate you,” he said. “People will kill you. People hate you. They will kill you.”

Jansz asked the defence secretary if she would be killed on his orders.

“What?” Gotabaya said. “No. Not mine. But they will kill you, you dirty f------ s--- journalist.”

In both conversations with Jansz, Gotabaya’s comments were laced with profanities.

Jansz, who said she considered Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s diatribe a legitimate threat, said she recorded the phone conversation and has given a copy to her newspaper’s lawyers. She hasn’t posted the audiotape publicly.

The venom-laced diatribe would be disturbing enough in any country.

But in Sri Lanka, it’s difficult to underscore the fear that already percolates through the country’s media.

Reporters Without Borders, the international press advocacy group, says Sri Lanka is No. 163 in its 2011-12 ranking of press freedom in 179 countries, behind Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Iraq.

“Of the world’s democratically elected governments, Sri Lanka’s is the one that respects press freedom least,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Dozens of journalists and press freedom activists, including the most militant ones, have been forced to flee the country, some of them after being arrested and tortured.”

Reporters Without Borders said three journalists are missing. In March, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Sri Lankan government to stop intimidating reporters who supported the adoption of a recent United Nations Human Rights Council resolution calling for an investigation into alleged abuses of international humanitarian law during Sri Lanka’s war with Tamil separatists.

“Minister of Public Relations Mervyn Silva warned that he will break the limbs of some journalists who have gone abroad and made various statements against the country, if they dare to set foot in the country,” the pro-government Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

Jansz’s predecessor as editor, Lasantha Wikrematunge, was killed on his way to work in 2009 by eight men riding four motorcycles during morning rush hour on a busy Colombo road, not far from a military checkpoint.

Wickrematunge’s killing was reported around the world, particularly after his family released a letter titled “And Then They Came for Me,” that he’d written predicting the president would order his death.

In that letter, Wickrematunge wrote: “Murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty . . . When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me . . . As for me, it is with a clear conscience that I go to meet my Maker.

“I wish, when your time finally comes, you could do the same. I wish.”

Before his murder, Wickrematunge and his wife were in their car when it was attacked by a group of masked men wielding baseball bats spiked with nails. On two other occasions, the paper’s printing presses were burned.

Two weeks after Wickrematunge’s murder, attackers on motorbikes repeatedly stabbed a Sri Lankan newspaper editor and his wife as they drove to work. Neither received fatal injuries. Only two days before Wickrematunge’s death, the country’s largest private television station, MBC/MTV Networks, was attacked by 15 masked assailants armed with grenades.

“Of course I’m afraid,” Jansz said. “There’s not been one single word about this in the press in Sri Lanka. Not even the editors’ guild will say anything about it. That tells you how fearful people here are.”

Jansz, who joined the Sunday Leader in 1994 after a career as a television journalist, said she’s not bothering to change her route to work or other daily routines.

“It wouldn’t make a difference,” she said. “If Gotabaya wants to find me and eliminate me he will.”

A spokesperson for the Sri Lankan High Commission in Ottawa declined to comment.

The Debate On Hanging And Miscarriages Of Justice

By Shanie -September 22, 2012 

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”

A concept ill-used to avenge

Killing is murder, and that’s a raw truth

Why this need for revenge?

It sinks to the criminal level

A depth morality eschews

The death penalty, more attuned for the devil

No moral society should choose.”

-StanleyCooper (1926-)

Somebody in government wants to bring back capital punishment. But, to his credit, the Minister of JusticeRauf Hakeem seems to have his reservations. He is quoted as having stated that judicial executions must only be re-introduced after a national referendum. Capital punishment for crimes is almost as old as history, both here and elsewhere. The ancient maxim, an eye for an eye, etc, was liberally interpreted. A person could be subject to capital punishment not only for murder but for various other crimes as well. Usually, capital punishment was associated with torture and other degrading and what we would now call barbaric methods. These were authorised and sanctioned not only by the ancient Sinhala and Tamil kings but even by the first two of our colonial rulers. The British annexed the Maritime Provinces from the Dutch in 1796 and in 1802 issued a Proclamation abolishing ‘all inhumane punishments which were in force under the civil law as administered on thisIsland’ and death by hanging was the only sanctioned form of capital punishment.

Capital Punishment has remained in our statute books to this day. There were, at various times, attempts made to abolish the death penalty but they never succeeded, even though supported by some of the highest political, civil society and legal figures in the country. In 1958, the S W R D Bandaranaike’s Government managed to get a Bill passed by Parliament suspending capital punishment for an experimental period. But even earlier, since the new Government came into power in 1956, no executions had been carried out. But ironically, the assassination of Bandaranaike followed soon after. The government of Bandaranike’s widow got through a Bill in Parliament to repeal the Suspension of Capital Punishment Act and judicial executions resumed thereafter. However, towards the tail end of the term of the Sirimavo Bandaranaike government, a decision was made not to enforce the death penalty administratively. Since then, all condemned prisoners have been saved from the gallows. The last execution took place in June 1976.

Increase in violent crime          Read More

Can’t descend that low like the MaRa-adhikarmaya : CJ and JSC issue notice
 (Lanka-e-News 21.Sep.2012, 8.30PM) The SL sacrosanct judiciary did a 180 degree turnabout following the incidents where threats were posed by the SL Govt. Minister Badurdeen to the Mannar court judge; stoning of the courts and the pressures exerted on the Secretary of the JSC (Judicial service Commission ) to get the threatened judge transferred . The realization has now dawned on the judges that if they without becoming a part of the MaRa ‘s Kangaroo court , and if they do not maintain the independence of the judiciary , the day is not far off when the Temple Trees lavatory coolies will come out not only to sit but even shit on the heads of the judges.

In the circumstances , the judges lately rallied together to give judgments that are most humane, most just and independent . One such judgment was that delivered pertaining to the Divineguma Act. It was decided that if not authorized at the Provincial Council level , it is illegal. It was very evident that this constituted deadly poison to the MaRa regime based on the response shown by the MaRa team in Parliament on the day the Speaker announced it. Priority was given by them to the anti judiciary slogans and placards.

Those who were most conspicuous by this attitude against the courts were Basil Rajapakse the notorious illicit Commission Kingpin , Bandula Gonawardena the Buffalo Minister who had made a hash of the SL education sector on an unprecedented scale , and the MaRaadhikarma barbaric leaders. 

Since of late it is the judiciary that has become the target of vicious and vengeful attacks .

The bootlicking State media on the one hand and a foul mouthed Hudson Silva ( better known as Mud-son Silva) on the other makes the whole country stink every morning with the stench that emanates from his mouth by his venomous harangues over the State Broadcasting service. It is unfortunate that he whose eye is squint in this life does not realize by giving his stinking mouth full unbridled freedom he is eager to get his tongue also cursed with an eternal life of not only squint eyes but also a twisted tongue as retribution.

Meanwhile the JSC suspended fudge of a judge Aravinda Perera from his official post and stripped him of his professional cloak . He is connected with the Nil Balakaya of synthetic Lawyer Namal . This JSC action was like pouring burning petrol on these serpents , cheats and their sidekicks. The fudge of a judge Aravinda is a notorious fraudster who had earned the disrepute as an island wide swindler who has borrowed and defaulted on countless occasions. In the CRIB , his name is mentioned over 15 times as a loan defaulter. But the father , Siri Perera of this super grade fraud Aravinda Perera ( bosom pal of Namal) is a super grade friend of MaRa. The regime therefore has strong motive to change the verdict against Aravinda. To the consternation of MaRa , the request made to the JSC to come to the Temple Trees to discuss this subject with him , leaked out like the saliva spit out early morning. 
The Chief Justice and the Commission had concluded that in the present context what is important and imperative for SL is, no longer a MaRa kangaroo court , but rather an independent judiciary. Owing to this forthright and firm stance taken by the judiciary , the pressures exerted and the hostility harbored against the judiciary by the MaRa-adhikarmaya and supporters had been intensified. 

Consequent upon this , the JSC Secretary Manjula Thilakawardena has issued a notification for the general information of the public. In this communiqué it is clear it urges that if there are people in SL who show deference to justice and laws even infinitesimally , the time has come for them to awake .
The full text of the Sinhal communiqué of the Secretary is in below

Meanwhile Lawyers for Democracy issues the statement on today 

LfD demands Government to respect the Judiciary
--------------------------------------------------------- 
LfD is disturbed by the emerging evidence of coordinated moves to undermine the independence of judiciary in Sri Lanka. The Statement issued by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on 16thSeptember 2012 clearly indicates that there are various attempts to interfere with the affairs of the Judicial Services Commission. 
After the recent determination made by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on a Bill titled “Divinaguma” political leadership of the government has expressed its dissatisfaction over the decisions made by the Supreme Court. For example, the government has organized a public demonstration, where people were transported at public expenditure into a close location near the Parliament to criticize the Supreme Court determination. Recently, several programmes in the state media carried vicious and malicious programmes critical of the judiciary. 

LfD sees this trend as a clear move by the government to intimidate the judiciary and undermine the Rule of Law and an attempt to make the judges vulnerable for governmental pressure. All public institutions are totally politicized and are at the disposal of the regime. The Judiciary is the only organ that has survived direct political interference. Therefore we urge the President and the government to respect the independence of the judiciary and take all possible steps to stop direct and indirect intimidation and incitements against the judiciary. LfD also urges the Government to ensure the State media will respect basic decency in journalistic ethics in their references to judiciary and judges. While expressing solidarity with the JSC, we remind the public that in any civilized society all individuals and institutions should respect the judiciary as the ultimate arbiter of all disputes between the State and the citizens. 

Sgd/ Lal Wijenayaka 
Attorney-at-Law 
Convener LFD

SL forces attack, throw dirt at people demanding resettlement in Mullaiththeevu



[TamilNet, Friday, 21 September 2012, 11:22 GMT]
When people of Mullaiththeevu for the first time in last three years gathered in hundreds in front of the district secretariat on Friday, to demand resettlement in their village at Keappaa-pulavu in the district, the occupying Sinhala military deployed in large numbers responded with intimidation of taking videos of the demonstrators and by arranging a gang to throw human excretion at them. After throwing dirt the gang escaped by getting into a nearby SL police station. Later, a motorbike gang followed the vehicle in which Mr S. Kajendran was returning from the demonstration to attack it near Mu’l’liyava’lai. Another gang, in the very presence of SL military, attacked the vehicle in which Dr. Wikramabahu Karunaratne and Mr Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam were returning via Paranthan road. A vehicle of media persons was also attacked. 

Barbed wires placed to puncture tyres ambushed Mr. Kajendran’s vehicle at an open and lonely stretch of the road, when the motorbike gang that was following the vehicle started attacking the vehicle and the passengers inside. Mr. Kajendran drove the vehicle away in punctured condition to escape from the attackers.

The demonstration was led by TNA parliamentarian for Vanni, Mr Sritharan, TNPF leaders Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam and Mr S. Kajendran, leading civil society activist Mr. Guruparan Kumaravadivel as well as Dr. Wikramabahu Karunaratne, Mr. Mano Ganeshan and leaders of the United Socialist Party from the South. 

The demonstration participated by more than around 400 local people, including the villagers of Keappaa-pulavu, took place for nearly one and a half hours between 11-30 AM and 1-00 PM. 

SL military is currently stationed in the village Keappaa-pulavu and recently there was news that the occupying military plans a permanent base there.

“We want our land, let the military quit our homeland,” the demonstrators demanded.

An SL military officer of the rank of Major was engaged in an intimidating way in videographing the demonstrators.

The SL military has also organized a group of around 20 people to come to the venue and shout that demonstrations are not necessary for Tamils. 

Later, speaking to media, Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam expressed his concern over how the OHCHR team that visited the island for a week is going to present its report. Everything moves towards a planned hoodwink, he implied.

All leaders who participated the demonstration opined that the affected people are left with no option other than struggle and demonstration in addressing the world and in letting the world know of their plight.