DDoS attack disrupts TamilNet web traffic

Distributed Denial-of-Service Attack (DDoS), identified by the service provider of TamilNet as originating in an orchestrated way from certain affluent parts of the world, has been disrupting web traffic of TamilNet.com since Saturday. The attack on the independent media reporting to the world on Tamil affairs coincides with the opening of the 19th sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) in Geneva on Monday, where the USA and Sri Lanka have already pitched positions in hijacking the focus of issues concerning the cause of genocide-affected Eezham Tamils. TamilNet has been forced to seek expert services in regularising the web traffic. As a media arguing for Eezham Tamil public to take up the issues into their hands, TamilNet depends on the support of nobody other than the Tamil masses and the alternative world.

TamilNet Editorial Board
In the past too, TamilNet in its 15-years of web transmission had been targeted to similar web attacks, but in minor scale.

Sri Lanka has been blocking the web traffic of TamilNet inside the island since June 2007.

In the long struggle of Eezham Tamils, in the pre-Internet era, regimes in Colombo were jamming broadcasts including those of the Tamil services of the BBC and Radio Veritas.

TamilNet was blocked in Sri Lanka, but still it was able to relay to the world the first hand coverage of the war, at a time when the Colombo regime and its abetters wanted to conduct a genocidal war without witnesses. The regional media in the subcontinent and the international media either could not challenge or didn’t want to challenge the ‘experiment’ of Colombo and the powers in complicity.

Indirectly admitting the Internet censorship on TamilNet, Sri Lankan Media Minister and former military spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella then said, as reported by the BBC: “We are looking for hackers to disable the TamilNet but could not find anyone yet.”

The web attack on TamilNet now, which in magnitude surpasses all the earlier attacks even during the Vanni War, shows only the level of anxiety over the current post-war manoeuvrings in the paranoid camps, guilty of genocide, but remain either inimical or stuck to deterrent towards justice to the cause of Eezham Tamils.

TamilNet has also faced crippling murderous attacks.

On 19 October 2000, BBC’s Jaffna correspondent Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, who was also one of the ground reporters of TamilNet was shot and killed in Jaffna, controlled by Sri Lanka’s military.

Almost five years later, on 28 April 2005, Sivaram Dharmeratnam, a senior editor of TamilNet, was abducted and assassinated in Colombo and his body was later found in the high security zone behind the Sri Lankan parliament in Colombo.

Later, during the Rajapaksa regime, media in Colombo was also targeted through assassinations and web attacks. The target of attacks included the ones even supporting the wartime SL commander Sarath Fonseka.

Eezham Tamils have noticed a difference in response from the Establishments, their media and human rights organisations advocating media freedom, between attacks that have taken place against Colombo-centric media and attacks against the media orientated to the national cause of Eezham Tamils.

Upholding the state either by genocide or by any other artful means conceived by the Establishments is progressive or moderate that needs voices of protection. But upholding the national cause of genocide-affected Eezham Tamils and exposing the culprits deterring it, or revealing the on-going structural genocide, is ‘terrorist’, pro-LTTE or pro-rebel.

Even when there are no visible signs of the presence of the LTTE, TamilNet has been deliberately tagged with the ‘taboo’ or is subjected to blackout, calculated disregard etc., not only by the genocidal state in the island but also by powers, personalities formerly associated with the moves of the Co-Chairs, international organisations including those who claim speaking on human rights and by the mainstream news agencies as well as media that play the second fiddle.

Then, why the present international web attack of cowardice on TamilNet, needs perusal by our readers and the alternative world.

Right from the inception, TamilNet has been functioning on a very low budget and without the benefits of advertisement, just because of maintaining its independence in the times of ‘funded’ organisations and institutions. It will remain so.

It has been depending only on the support of the masses and genuine philanthropists among them who don’t intend ‘strings’ attached to their support whether material or otherwise. TamilNet will personally reach out to them with authentication when needed.

Our readers and the alternative world are requested to understand the times, the plight of TamilNet and the universal free media experiment for a righteous cause involved in the entire process, in showing their solidarity.
TN

Defence ministry tapping phones of 687 persons – Mangala, Govt admits

 UNP’s Mangala Samaraweera alleged in parliament yesterday (Feb. 23) that the defence ministry was tapping the phones of 687 persons.

They included 124 cabinet ministers and government MPs as well as religious leaders, newspaper editors and several journalists, he said, adding that two Chinese phone companies are being paid huge sums for carrying this out.

This is a very serious situation, as the two companies have even recorded phone conversations of Mahanayake Theras, alleged the UNP MP.

Responding, UPFA’s Thilanga Sumathipala said phone tapping by intelligence services was a normal occurrence in most countries.

By taking such a measure, Sri Lanka could avoid any future threat, he added.
SLM

New laws for the Public Performances Board

The Cabinet of Ministers is to be presented a Cabinet memorandum today seeking permission to introduce new legislation on the Public Performances Board. The memorandum has been drafted by the Mass Media and Information Ministry and the Cultural Affairs Ministry.

The main aim is to monitor quality and the sense of balance in teledramas, commercial advertisements, musical videos and concerts telecast on private electronic media channels.

The Cabinet memorandum states that the contents of some of the programmes on radio and television channels harmed the country’s culture and morals.

The Media Ministry and the Cultural Affairs Ministry have also stated that there have been many complaints about the use of Sinhala and Tamil in the private media and that attention should be paid immediately to resolve these issues.
LNW

Marie Colvin in her own words – our mission is to report the horrors of war

Marie Colvin gave the main address at St Bride’s church in 2010 at a service to commemorate journalists, cameramen and support staff who had lost their lives during conflicts.

Marie Colvin, who was killed in Syria on Wednesday morning, gave the main address at St Bride’s church in 2010 at a service to commemorate journalists, cameramen and support staff who had lost their lives during conflicts.

The address was made in front of a congregation including editors from across the news industry and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall.

Her words, which we run in full below, explain the motivation of the war correspondent and the importance of the job they do.

“Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured and humbled to be speaking to you at this service tonight to remember the journalists and their support staff who gave their lives to report from the war zones of the 21st Century. I have been a war correspondent for most of my professional life. It has always been a hard calling. But the need for front line, objective reporting has never been more compelling.

Covering a war means going to places torn by chaos, destruction, and death, and trying to bear witness. It means trying to find the truth in a sandstorm of propaganda when armies, tribes or terrorists clash. And yes, it means taking risks, not just for yourself but often for the people who work closely with you.

Despite all the videos you see from the Ministry of Defence or the Pentagon, and all the sanitised language describing smart bombs and pinpoint strikes, the scene on the ground has remained remarkably the same for hundreds of years. Craters. Burned houses. Mutilated bodies. Women weeping for children and husbands. Men for their wives, mothers children.

Our mission is to report these horrors of war with accuracy and without prejudice. We always have to ask ourselves whether the level of risk is worth the story. What is bravery, and what is bravado?

Journalists covering combat shoulder great responsibilities and face difficult choices. Sometimes they pay the ultimate price. Tonight we honour the 49 journalists and support staff who were killed bringing the news to our shores. We also remember journalists around the world who have been wounded, maimed or kidnapped and held hostage for months. It has never been more dangerous to be a war correspondent, because the journalist in the combat zone has become a prime target.

I lost my eye in an ambush in the Sri Lankan civil war. I had gone to the northern Tamil area from which journalists were banned and found an unreported humanitarian disaster. As I was smuggled back across the internal border, a soldier launched a grenade at me and the shrapnel sliced into my face and chest. He knew what he was doing.

Just last week, I had a coffee in Afghanistan with a photographer friend, Joao Silva. We talked about the terror one feels and must contain when patrolling on an embed with the armed forces through fields and villages in Afghanistan … putting one foot in front of the other, steeling yourself each step for the blast. The expectation of that blast is the stuff of nightmares. Two days after our meeting Joao stepped on a mine and lost both legs at the knee.

Many of you here must have asked yourselves, or be asking yourselves now, is it worth the cost in lives, heartbreak, loss? Can we really make a difference?

I faced that question when I was injured. In fact one paper ran a headline saying, has Marie Colvin gone too far this time? My answer then, and now, was that it is worth it.

Today in this church are friends, colleagues and families who know exactly what I am talking about, and bear the cost of those experiences, as do their families and loved ones.

Today we must also remember how important it is that news organisations continue to invest in sending us out at great cost, both financial and emotional, to cover stories.

We go to remote war zones to report what is happening. The public have a right to know what our government, and our armed forces, are doing in our name. Our mission is to speak the truth to power. We send home that first rough draft of history. We can and do make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the atrocities that befall civilians.

The history of our profession is one to be proud of. The first war correspondent in the modern era was William Howard Russell of The Times, who was sent to cover the Crimean conflict when a British-led coalition fought an invading Russian army.

Billy Russell, as the troops called him, created a firestorm of public indignation back home by revealing inadequate equipment, scandalous treatment of the wounded, especially when they were repatriated – does this sound familiar? – and an incompetent high command that led to the folly of the Charge of the Light Brigade. It was a breakthrough in war reporting. Until then, wars were reported by junior officers who sent back dispatches to newspapers. Billy Russell went to war with an open mind, a telescope, a notebook and a bottle of brandy. I first went to war with a typewriter, and learned to tap out a telex tape. It could take days to get from the front to a telephone or telex machine.

War reporting has changed greatly in just the last few years. Now we go to war with a satellite phone, laptop, video camera and a flak jacket. I point my satellite phone to South Southwest in Afghanistan, press a button and I have filed.

In an age of 24/7 rolling news, blogs and twitters, we are on constant call wherever we are. But war reporting is still essentially the same – someone has to go there and see what is happening. You can’t get that information without going to places where people are being shot at, and others are shooting at you. The real difficulty is having enough faith in humanity to believe that enough people be they government, military or the man on the street, will care when your file reaches the printed page, the website or the TV screen.

We do have that faith because we believe we do make a difference.

And we could not make that difference – or begin to do our job – without the fixers, drivers, and translators, who face the same risks and die in appalling numbers. Today we honour them as much as the front line journalists who have died in pursuit of the truth. They have kept the faith as we who remain must continue to do.”

Sri Lanka’s National Reconciliation Efforts Must Address Journalists’ Concerns – IFJ

Journalists in Sri Lanka began a campaign on January 25 in memory of colleagues who fell in the quarter-century long civil war in the island nation. This day of protest united all Sri Lanka’s principal professional journalism bodies  and was planned as a reminder to those in power that the vital task of national reconciliation requires more than token gestures.

The campaign was also aimed at dispelling the climate of impunity for attacks on the media which was a feature of the years of ethnic strife, and at allowing a free voice for human rights defenders who stand up for a fair and just society.

Government spokespersons began to mobilise their own campaign of hostile rhetoric soon after the alliance of professional bodies announced plans for the January 25 observance.

IFJ sources in Sri Lanka report that in the second week of January the government-owned TV channel launched an attack, bristling with unseemly aggression, against the Free Media Movement (FMM), a voluntary body which some of Sri Lanka’s finest journalists have been associated with for close to two decades. While playing old footage of these journalists and activists from past campaigns, the TV channel ran a commentary on its main news programmes, attacking them in virulent terms.

According to a reliable translation provided by IFJ sources in Sri Lanka, the commentary accused these activists of “betraying” the “motherland for gold and titles”. With mock regret that the descendants of individuals who were “killed” during the reign of the kings “live on today”, the commentary promised that those who “do no good to the country, would some day face no good”.

On January 10, the government-owned newspaper accused the FMM of petitioning the European Union (E.U.) to terminate the bilateral trade preferences Sri Lanka enjoys. Two former convenors of the FMM and, by subtle implication, the current holder of that post, were accused of seeking to undermine a concession that many industries in Sri Lanka benefit from. The report did not stint in the use of suggestive and extremely hostile rhetoric, describing the individuals named as “anti-national elements” who were sustained on “foreign funds”.

The IFJ is unaware of any occasion when the FMM has urged the withdrawal of trade concessions to Sri Lanka. Rather, the FMM has invariably focused its attention on the Sri Lankan government and repeatedly underlined the need for it to live up to the human rights standards under which the E.U. trade preferences are granted.

Prior to the FMM’s planned demonstrations of January 25, the government secured a court injunction restricting the protests to a narrow area around the Fort Railway Station, a major landmark in Colombo, the capital city. Though the FMM and its allied organisations made it clear that they were not seeking confrontation, gangs of stick-wielding toughs reportedly took over the place where the demonstrations were planned. Placards carried by these gangs explicitly identified the FMM as an ally of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the ethnic insurgent group defeated by government forces in 2009 after a civil war marked by gross human rights violations by both sides.

On January 25, the government-controlled newspaper, the Daily News, carried an editorial which warned that any effort to “sabotage the progress of the country by disruptive elements (would) be put down”. The editorial identified the FMM, which coordinates the activities of all other professional bodies in the country – including journalists’ bodies organised on linguistic and ethnic lines – as “one of those organisations which have been in the forefront of lambasting the Lankan state on numerous issues”. The FMM, the editorial warned, “has been steeped in controversy and has a lot of soul-searching to do”.

The Daily News editorial then proceeded quite gratuitously to ask about the current whereabouts of the FMM’s leadership:

We wonder where its ‘Founding Fathers’ are today? Are they in this country or in some safe Western Comfort Zone?

The IFJ believes that these insinuations about individuals who were involved in human rights and media freedom campaigns in Sri Lanka through the difficult years of the civil war are completely misplaced. There is, moreover, no mystery about their current whereabouts, since most of them were virtually forced into exile by the events of January 2009, one of the worst months of a dark quarter century for journalism in Sri Lanka.

Yet this does not diminish the importance of the cause that they took great risks to advocate: media freedom as an imperative in the process of building peace.

As an organisation that has been closely involved with the FMM and its allied bodies, the IFJ believes that the tone of public comment in government-controlled media is unwarranted and speaks of a determination to pursue the policies that led to the bitter estrangement between Sri Lanka’s main linguistic communities.

With reconciliation being the proclaimed objective of the government of President Mahindra Rajapaksa, a more accommodating attitude seems called for in addressing the serious abuses of human rights that set the country back severely through its long civil war.

The IFJ notes that the report of an official commission appointed by the President as part of the process of national reconciliation was published late in 2011 and has led to some debate. This voluminous report, by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), devotes a modest amount of space to media freedom issues, but its language is compelling. Since these observations come from a duly accredited body constituted by the all-powerful president of Sri Lanka, we would like to quote from its findings at some length.

The LLRC records that it has been “deeply disturbed” by the reports that have persisted since the end of the war about “attacks and obstacles placed on journalists and media institutions”. These difficulties have been experienced even by “news websites”. The “killing of journalists” is another matter of serious concern flagged by the LLRC, which goes on to remark that the failure to “conclusively” investigate and bring the “perpetrators” to justice does little credit to the Sri Lankan government.

The LLRC notes, with some severity, that even while its deliberations were in progress, there was a “deplorable attack on the Editor of the Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna”. Such “actions”, the LLRC has warned, “clearly place great obstacles in the way of any reconciliation efforts”. Indeed, it points out, “any failure to investigate and prosecute offenders would undermine the process of reconciliation and the Rule of Law”.

The LLRC report is still being debated in Sri Lanka and diverse opinions are being voiced about the utility of its contribution to national reconciliation.

The IFJ and all its global associates are, however, encouraged by the LLRC recommendations that have a bearing on journalism. These need to be quoted in some detail:

Freedom of expression and right to information, which are universally regarded as basic human rights, play a pivotal role in any reconciliation process. It is therefore essential that media freedom be enhanced in keeping with democratic principles and relevant fundamental rights obligations, since any restrictions placed on media freedom would only contribute to an environment of distrust and fear within and among ethnic groups.

This would only prevent a constructive exchange of information and opinion placing severe constraints on the ongoing reconciliation process.

The Commission strongly recommends that:

a. All steps should be taken to prevent harassment and attacks on media personnel and institutions.

b. Action must be taken to impose deterrent punishment on such offences, and also priority should be given to the investigation, prosecution and disposal of such cases to build up public confidence in the criminal justice system.

c. Past incidents of such illegal action should be properly investigated. The Commission observes with concern that a number of journalists and media institutions have been attacked in the recent past. Such offences erode the public confidence in the system of justice. Therefore, the Commission recommends that steps should be taken to expeditiously conclude investigations so that offenders are brought to book without delay.

d. The Government should ensure the freedom of movement of media personnel in the North and East, as it would help in the exchange of information contributing to the process of reconciliation.

e. Legislation be enacted to ensure the right to information.

Global organisations affiliated with the IFJ are seriously concerned that, despite these very clear recommendations, the government of Sri Lanka seems intent on confronting the independent media, escalating the violent rhetoric against journalists, and questioning their motives in seeking restitution due for years of hardship.

The IFJ recalls that this manner of rhetoric contributed directly to the brutal attack on Poddala Jayantha, then the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association, in June 2009. Jayantha, a highly awarded journalist, suffered permanent disability and now lives in exile.

Leaked diplomatic cables from the U.S. mission in Colombo through the later years of the civil war have recently emerged, showing that the Sri Lankan authorities were in the know about the agencies behind the most outrageous attacks against the media.

In January 2006, S. Sukirtharajan, a photographer with the Tamil daily from Colombo, Sudar Oli¸ was shot dead by  assailants on motorcycles just days after he had published photographs proving that five Tamil students found dead in the eastern city of Trincomalee had been victims of an execution by state security agencies. A cable from the U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka at the time has now come to light which records President Rajapaksa’s brother Basil Rajapaksa, then as now a senior minister, admitting that the “Special Task Force” of the Sri Lankan military may have carried out the killing of the five students.

In August 2006, the Jaffna office of the Uthayan newspaper – part of the same group as Sudar Oli – was attacked with fire bombs and seriously damaged. As narrated to the U.S. ambassador in Sri Lanka, again by the President’s brother, this attack was in all probability carried out by the Sri Lankan Navy in league with a Tamil political party that is a close ally of President Rajapaksa’s.

In one of the most shocking incidents since the civil war was officially declared over in May 2009, the news editor of Uthayan was attacked with iron rods on the streets off Jaffna and left for dead shortly after elections to local bodies in the northern province were concluded in July 2011. The newspaper had editorially supported the opposition parties which registered significant wins in the elections.

The LLRC had taken note of this attack and commented sharply on it. The IFJ and its global partners conclude with extreme regret that the Sri Lankan government’s continuing failure to act against this manner of lawlessness, indeed its seeming eagerness to promote the rancour that contributed to the violence, suggest not a desire for national reconciliation, but its very opposite.

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0950

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries
Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific
Find the IFJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/IFJAsiaPacific

Colombo-backed group attacks Muslim journalist in Batticaloa

Puvi Rahumathulla, the chief editor of a weekly magazine “Vaara Uraikal” published from Kaaththaankudi in Batticaloa district was attacked by a group of persons Friday while he was distributing copies of his magazine, according to complaints lodged with the Kaaththaankudi Police.

Vaara Uraikal magazine has been critical of Mahinda Rajapakse regime, disclosing corrupt practices of SL deputy ministers of the Colombo government in the district and fraudulent activities of Kaaththaankudi Piratheasa Chapai (PS) run by pro-Rajapaksa Muslim politicians.

Rahumathulla has been harassed and intimidated by pro-government elements continuously for exposing misdeeds of the Colombo government and its henchmen in the Batticaloa district. He was assaulted in 2010 and 2011.

No media organization at island level or at provincial level has come forward to safeguard this journalist-editor Rahumathulla from the continuous attack and intimidation, sources close to him blamed.
[TamilNet]

‘The state propaganda machinery’s role in creating a brain dead nation’

Basil Fernando
Not only the content but also the style of the propaganda issued by the state media is aimed at dulling the minds and discouraging independent thought within the nation, says the Asian Human Rights Commission’s Basil Fernando in a statement.

The result is that when immensely dangerous things happen to the community the people have learned to avoid any public discussion on these matters. Take for example, the instance the murder of the British tourist and the grievous bodily injury and sexual assault to this Russian partner. When the identification parade took place last Friday at the Tangalle Magistrate’s Court, according to a newspaper report, the witnesses could not identify any of the suspects. These included the chairman of a Pradesheeya Sabha, Sampath Vidanapathirana, a well know personality who could easily be identified. The silence of the witnesses comes as no surprise to anyone who knows how things happen in Sri Lanka now.

Take also the murder of a young girl and her mother at Kahawatte in the most brutal manner.

In any society where there is still dynamic thought, both events would have shocked everyone and there would have been a media frenzy. Such a frenzy adds vigour to the nation’s thinking process and the events of this type, if they happen at all generates a movement within a living society which tries to defeat the evil of silence.

However, in Sri Lanka there was no fuss raised either about the manner in which the investigation was conducted into the first case which became an international scandal. Similarly, there were no expressions of shame and disgust in any of the editorials of the journals in Sri Lanka. Nor were there any debates in the electronic media about what is happening to the witnesses that come before the courts.

This is important, not because the persons who suffered in this case are foreigners but also because similar things are happening in numerous cases in many of the courts. The two witnesses who were killed while pursuing complaints in torture cases; Gerard Perera and Sugath Nishanta Fernando are examples of the way in which witnesses are treated in Sri Lanka. The lesson is loud and clear! Coming to court to testify is a dangerous affair and the people simply do not want to take the risk of reporting what they have seen or heard.

It does not take a great deal of knowledge in criminal justice to understand that if witnesses do not want to testify then the courts cannot function. Criminal justice is an essential component in any civilised society. However, no criminal justice can exist if the witnesses are unwilling to come forward and give evidence.

However, the media are made to keep silent on matters that are vital to the nation. Many journalists who have tried to practice their profession as it should be practiced have paid for it with their lives. Many others have had to pay a heavy cost for doing so. Due to the cumulative effects of such violence, today many are not bold enough to report and talk about such matters in public. However, even if they were willing to do so, there would be hardly any place in the media to publish what they write or say.

Imposing silence on matters of public importance creates a brain dead nation. The death of the collective brain is quite visible even in the parliament itself where the most vital debates of the nation are supposed to take place. Today, no one expects that such debates would take place at all. A systematic attempt has been made to silence the spirit of debate in the parliament itself. Unfortunately, the very constitution has been manipulated in order to facilitate the quick passing of bills, even those relating to amendments to the constitution and the habit of debating constitutional affairs has become lost in Sri Lanka.

Why would any political regime want to create a brain dead nation? This should have been the issue that was discussed when the 64th anniversary of the independence of the country was celebrated. However, such celebrations have begun to lose their public significance and ceased to be dates on which the vital affairs of the nation are discussed by all.

Under these circumstances, the attempts by the opposition to launch a campaign to end lawlessness and for reinstituting democracy are to be welcomed. If this campaign is carried out with the seriousness that it deserves it would undoubtedly gather support from those, who in the past, have been ardently supporting the government because the depth of frustration over the absence of public debate is a feeling that is commonly shared. In the past, the opposition itself contributed to the creation of the brain dead nation. It is hoped that at least, at this late stage the moves by the opposition will be carried out with genuine effort and that the nation will begin to discuss its public affairs with the vigor that is required if the nation is to regain its ability to think again, the AHRC adds.
AHRC

SL Minister Devananda threatens to attack journalists of Jaffna daily

“I told my [paramilitary] boys to beat up these journalists. But, the boys are not paying attention. It seems I have to go in person and do it to make these journalists behave,” was the newest controversial comment by SL Minister and EPDP paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda on Thursday evening at a meeting held at Jaffna District Secretariat, where he was talking to unemployed graduates who were demanding employment. The spontaneous comment by Mr. Devananda came when SL military governor’s secretary informed him of a news item that appeared in the Jaffna edition of Thinakkural exposing the diversion of funds allocated to development of schools in Vanni to the highly showcased construction of swimming pool which was declared opened by SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The threat against Tamil journalists comes following the recent comments against journalists by the visiting SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself, the journalists in Jaffna said.

L. Ilankovan, the secretary of SL Military Governor of Northern Province, gave the newsclip to Mr. Devananda who was having the meeting with unemployed graduates.

Five million rupees that had been allocated for the urgent reconstruction of schools in Vanni was diverted to the completion of the swimming pool at Jaffna Central College The swimming pool was supposed to be developed by the youth group of SL President Rajapaksa’s son Namal Rajapaksa. But, the project which was marred corruption and misuse of the resources took several years and was not completed by the group.

The EPDP is earlier blamed to be involved in the slaying of Jaffna correspondent of BBC and TamilNet, Mr. Nimalarajan in year 2000.
TN

FMM challenges ANCL, Editor Dinamina

Media Release
The Free Media Movement (FMM) unequivocally rejects the allegations and insinuations made in the Dinamina headline story on Friday (03 February) as blatant lies, unfounded, unsupported and unsubstantiated. We further believe, the report was published with the malicious intent of undermining independent media, which is fighting for democracy and freedom of expression, and those who stand for it.

The fabricated article refers to a conspiracy between the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the FMM and claims a delegation of TNA MPs and six members of the FMM have left for Geneva to mobilise agitations against the government and cause embarrassment for Sri Lanka during next month’s sessions of the United National Human Rights Commission.

We categorically states that neither the Movement nor the individual members have, in the recent or distant past, had any discussion with the TNA on any matter and rejects with absolute contempt, the allegation that six of its members have left for Geneva. These allegations are pure fabrications concocted in the mind of a sick person.
We challenge the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited and the Editor to Dinamina to prove these absurd allegations, and declare with conviction that we will dissolve the Movement and refrain from all associated activities, should the allegations be proven true.

However, notwithstanding our challenge to prove the allegations against us, we wish to state with utmost sincerity that the FFM will not hesitate to join forces with any political party or movement functioning within the democratic parameters, to fight for media freedom. It has been so, and it will remain so. If a need arises for us to appear before any international organization of which Sri Lanka is a member, we will certainly do our duty and represent matters honestly and truthfully.

A government controlled media organization such as Lake House, through one of its flagship publications like Dinamina, making unfounded and sinister allegations against a well-meaning and honest organization committed to media freedom is, without a doubt inspired and sponsored by the government. It reminds one of the attacks on the media personnel in the past when falsehood were planted in their publications prior to such attacks.

We reiterate our earlier challenge to prove these unfounded allegations. In failing to do so we demand an apology to us, published in the Dinamina, as prominently as the original fabrication.
Sunil Jayasekara                                                                Hana Ibrahim
Convener,                                                                             Secretary
Free Media Movement[FMM]                                       Free Media Movement[FMM]

07 February 2012

FMM chellenges state media to prove allegations made against FMM

The Free Media Movement says it rejects the claims made against the movement by the lead story of the lake House owned Dinamina newspaper on Feb. 03,  2012.

The FMM further challenges the Lake House administration and the Dinamina editor to present credible evidence to prove the claims.

The new report claimed that the FMM had joined hands with the Tamil National Alliance in a conspiracy to embarrass the Sri Lankan government at the HR council in Geneva, which will convene on March 27.

In a media release the FMM has rejected these claims, adding that the movement has not entered any discussion nor programme with the TNA and no FMM member has left for Geneva, as claimed by the news report.

The FMM says they do not consider the news to be a mistake or coincidence and that they believe such a news item could not have been published without the backing of the government.

By such actions, the government is attempting to destroy media rights activists in the mindsets of the people, they say.

The FMM reminds that several media institutions and journalists who had come under attack in the recent past had received similar slandering before being attacked.

Urging to present credible evidence to prove the news article, the FMM requests the Lake House administration and the Dinamina editor to publish an apology and a correction if they are unable to provide credible evidence.

Srilankamirror