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Paul Harris
hopes to return Mr Harris left his apartment block at the Galle Face court at 2.45 p.m last Friday and was driven to the airport in a Mercedes Benz car provided by a close associate. His visa expired on Friday and the government did not extend it. Several media organizations including the Editor's Guild of Sri Lanka requested the government to reconsider the decision not to extend his visa but the government insisted there would be no extension. The Foreign Ministry in a statement charged that Mr Harris had violated his visa facility because of his contributions to local media institutions. The government's decision came amidst allegations that he was involved in political activities by having close links with the opposition People's Alliance and he was also highly critical of the ongoing peace process. Mr. Harris told The Sunday Times that he was approached by PA spokesman Mangala Samaraweera who offered him the editor's post of an English newspaper to be published by the PA. He said that he rejected this offer. He also said that he was invited to parliament by Presidential Advisor Lakshman Kadirgamar to address the opposition parliamentary group on the consequences of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the LTTE. "All the predictions I made at that briefing are now becoming realities. They have become realities in the form of continuation of the war machinery and the use of civilians and school children to attack military camps." Mr. Harris said that from the information he had gained from sources within the government that the non-extension of his visa was due to a politically motivated action. But he said that as a journalist he had the right to make his own assessments on issues if he had substantial evidence to prove them. Mr. Harris has visited Sri Lanka from 1996 as reporter for the Jane's Defence Weekly. He started work here as correspondent for the London Based Daily Telegraph from October 2001. This incident has spilled out internationally as already the French journalist organization "Reporters Without Borders" has condemned this act. Mr. Harris has received messages of support from Amnesty International, the Article 19, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists in New York, the International Federation for Journalists in Brussels and the National Union of Journalists in London. Mr. Harris said things in Sri Lanka appeared to be changing rapidly and he hoped to return to Sri Lanka soon. The Editor's Guild of Sri Lanka has sent a letter to the Prime Minister stating that whatever the reason the government is denying him the extension of his visa, Mr Harris was entitled to a fair inquiry where he be given the opportunity to meet charges that might be framed against him. The Guild said the non-extension of the visa might give rise to fears that the Government was expelling a journalist for expressing views that were unfavourable to the Government. The Editors Guild urges the Government to quickly review the decision, hold a fair inquiry and make its findings known to the public. The letter further said that the good work done so far, by the Government to promote a liberal-democratic media in this country, by repealing criminal defamation laws and moving in the direction towards drafting new legislation to ensure media freedom through proposals framed by media organizations which have won international acclaim, could now be sullied by this" The Foreign Correspondents' Association of Sri Lanka (FCA) in a statement said, that while taking note of the Foreign Ministry's explanation, it strongly believed that Mr. Harris' journalistic work should not be cited as a reason for refusing an extension of his visa. The Free Media Movement (FMM) in a statement said that Mr. Harris had come to Sri Lanka as a journalist and it did not endorse his association with political parties. However, the FMM said it was opposed to the taking away of his right to practice as a journalist. |
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