Tissainayagam out on bail

Imprisoned journalist Jeyaprakash Tissainayagam was enlarged on bail today on grounds of health, pending the appeal of his conviction. Tissainayagam was convicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) last year, for arousing “communal feelings” by writing and publishing articles that criticized the government’s treatment of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians affected by the war, and for raising money for the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam through his magazine, The North Eastern Monthly

Speaking to the media immediately after leaving the Appeals Court, the journalist who was sentenced for twenty years of rigorous imprisonment said that he was grateful to the friends, closest allies and the media activists who stood by him in the last two years.

“Tissanayagam was the first person to be convicted for something he wrote and published”, said Sunil Jayasekera of the Free Media Movement. He added that as the watchdog and advocacy body for media freedom in Sri Lanka, they were happy, and that they were looking forward to justice being served for the veteran journalist.

The Appeals Court order to release Tissainayagam on bail was given on Monday, January 11, and lawyers representing Tissainayagam stated that he would be released on the following day. Tuesday, January 12 saw a handful of media personnel outside the Welikada Prison, but he was finally released today at the Appeals Court clad in a long sleeved shirt and tie, in a stark contrast to the other prisoners whom he arrived with.

Tissainayagam was arrested on March 7, 2008 by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), when he visited his employee V. Jasikeran and wife who were in custody . Attempts by his lawyer to see him on March 10 were refused, and Tissanayagam was only informed that he was arrested under the PTA on March 21, more than two weeks after his arrest. He was charged months later after being held without charge, in a trial which saw interest gathered from the local and international media and human rights spheres.

Tissanayagam who was a columnist for the Sunday Times, was kept under detention orders for more than five hundred days prior to being charged under the PTA. During his trial, Tissanayagam claimed that he was harassed and threatened by the TID while under detention and that the confession produced as evidence was a document that was dictated to him by the TID. Repeated applications for bail before and during his trial were turned down.

Media Freedom has become a topic which is widely discussed at the run up to the Presidential Elections. Both leading candidates have promised greater freedom to the press, in a country which has seen numerous journalists and media activists killed, including the Editor of the Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunge, during the tenure of the current administration, and many leaving the country in fear of their personal safety.