|
Journalist Tissainayagam pardoned by Sri Lankan
president
Colombo : External Affairs Minister Gamini
Peiris made the announcement at a news
conference that Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa has pardoned the reporter Jeyaprakash
Tissainayagam who had been earlier given 20 year
imprisonment for supporting terrorism under the
Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). He added that
the release was made to mark World Press Freedom
Day(declared by The United Nations General
Assembly) which falls on May 3.Last year in the
World Press Freedom Day addressing, US President
Barack Obama remarked Tissainayagam's case as an
example of journalists who
are being punished for doing their duty.
Tissainayagam's case also drew attention across
the world.
|
He was arrested in March 2008 and he was also released
on bail in January this year due to poor health..
Tissainayagam's conviction was based on two articles he
wrote criticizing the government's military actions
against the LTTE rebels. Last September, he was given an
award for courageous and ethical journalism by the
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.
