BBC blunder on Sri Lanka the day new UK govt. took office

A reporting blunder by the BBC on the first full day of the Gordon Brown government could seriously embarrass Britain in the face of international concern over disappearances and abductions in Sri Lanka.

Under the headline “Pair facing Tamil Tiger charges” the BBC News on-line reported that Arunachalam Chrishantakumar (alias AC Shanthan) and Goldan Lambert, who are charged here under the Terrorism Act could stand trial in Sri Lanka implying they could be returned to the country of origin.

Last Thursday’s story which was posted on the website at 14.46 GMT stated:“If found guilty they could face trial in Sri Lanka,” implied that they would not only be sent to Sri Lanka but would stand trial for the second time, contrary to British government policy and the law. It also suggests that Sri Lanka will try persons who have already been found guilty in another jurisdiction thus damaging Sri Lanka’s image in the eyes of the world.

Moreover, the two suspects being charged for alleged links with the LTTE are believed to be holding French passports and are resident in the UK and have no status in Sri Lanka.The BBC’s blunder came several hours before a terrorist alert was sounded in central London when two car bombs were discovered in what observers think is a sinister welcome to the new British government. Even if the UK authorities wish to deport the two suspects they have to be sent to France and not Sri Lanka. Having apparently realised the reporting error, the BBC later deleted that sentence from the text and carried the news item with the same time of posting as the first report, hoping perhaps the error would not be detected. However, later on Thursday in BBC’s “Asia Today” programme aired at 17.30 hrs, almost three hours after the BBC corrected the report, the presenter referred at the tail end to the two persons appearing in court on charges of supporting a banned organisation and said “ If they are found guilty, they will face trial in Sri Lanka.”

Not only did Asia Today repeat the mistake but made it firmer by changing “could face trial” into “will face trial”. Both the new Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Lord Chancellor and Justice Minister Jack Straw could face embarrassing questions not only from MPs but also human rights watchdogs and activists, observers here said. “They could be asked whether it is the new government’s policy to have people tried twice for the same offence and whether the policy is to deport persons to a country of which they are not citizens,” a lawyer told the Sunday Times.

“The question is how the BBC came to make such a serious error and worse still how a second programme picked it up without checking on the truth of the story,” a senior media person remarked.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka High Commission here has protested strongly to the BBC’s editorial director about one-sided and biased reporting on Sri Lanka. The finger has been pointed especially at the Asia Today programme which in recent days has carried a series of programmes critical of Sri Lanka but failed to report on the arrest under the Terrorism Act of the two persons suspected of LTTE connections and the police raids on several premises including the homes of the suspects. This was the first time that persons of Sri Lankan origin have been arrested for links with the LTTE.