SLPI’s Namal Perera had finished work as usual by 5.40 p.m. last Monday, June 30. However, he didn’t leave the office premises immediately, as he was waiting for his friend Mahendra Ratnaweera from the British High Commission.
Namal, the Acting Manager, Advocacy, of the Sri Lanka Press Institute, and Mahendra, Political Officer of the British High Commission were good friends and usually travelled home together after work and Monday was no exception. Mahendra was to drop Namal who was heading to Boralesgamuwa, on his way to Kottawa.
 |
| Namal speaking from his
hospital bed on Thursday.
Pix by Sanka Vidanagama |
Mahendra came to pick Namal from the SLPI on Kirula Road, Narahenpita, at 6.00pm and both headed home together.
Namal speaking from a hospital bed on Friday said, “As soon as we turned the vehicle to Chithra Lane, we noticed two suspicious-looking people standing near the SLPI. They appeared to be making a call, while looking in the direction of our vehicle.”
Instead of proceeding, Mahendra had driven about 100 metres into Chithra Lane and then turned back to Kirula Road to check whether anyone was following them. The two suspicious men had disappeared, he said. They then turned onto Thimbirigasyaya Road and when they turned onto Fife Road, they noticed two people on a motor bike following them. To avoid the motor bike they decided to go back to Chithra Lane and turned into a by lane between the Anderson Flats.
“When we thought that the two men had gone, we turned to Park Road and then to the main road towards Kirulapone. As we were about to turn towards Kirulapone, for the first time we noticed a white van following us. It followed our car along Polhengoda-Kirulapone Road. Since it was following us continuously we turned to a by lane on the left. It was then that the white van overtook us and blocked our path,” Namal explained.
“As soon as I realized that the white van was following us, I suspected they were after us. So I phoned Ranga Kalansuriya, the Director General of the SLPI and informed him of the van and gave him the number as well,” Namal said.
When their path was blocked by the van, Mahendra had tried to reverse the vehicle onto Baseline Road but before he could do so, four people in civvies and armed with wooden clubs got down from the van. Namal who was still on the call with Mr. Kalansuriya had also managed to shout out that some people were attacking them.
The assailants had then broken the windscreen of the car and the shutter on Mahendra’s side and had started attacking him. The club that had broken the windscreen landed on his forehead and he was badly injured. He suffered severe injuries to his shoulders too, Namal said.
Meanwhile two of the assailants then turned their attention to the left side of the vehicle breaking the shutter on Namal’s side and tried to drag him out while barking out orders for him to get out. They had tried to unlock the door and force it open but failed as Namal had been holding on to the door.
“When those people tried to drag me out of the car, I moved towards Mahendra and blows aimed at him struck me as well. I suspect that those people were trying to abduct me,” Namal said.
One of the men had tried to get into the vehicle through the back door on Namal’s side. Namal, who was trying to move away from the door and the two people who were trying to drag him out, was hit on the head and the ribs. Namal lost two teeth when one of the assailants hit him on the mouth.
“By now it was around 6.20pm, people had gathered around and traffic was building up. The assailants then fled the scene towards Kirulapone,” he said.
As soon as the assailants had left, Mahendra and Namal had come out from the car and had phoned 119 but couldn’t get through as the number was engaged. The seriously injured Mahendra was rushed to hospital by some who had gathered at the scene while Namal stayed back. He too was taken to Apollo Hospital by Waruna Karunatilleke of SLPI who arrived at the scene shortly.
People who had gathered round the scene had also jotted down the vehicle number, however, it differed from that of the number that Namal gave Mr. Kalansuriya. One of the numbers had been traced and the vehicle bearing that number was found in a garage in Grandpass. The vehicle bore the number 253-2309 on the front and 253-2908 at the back.
At about 12.30 that same day Namal had been informed by security personnel at the SLPI that some people dressed in Army uniform and travelling on two motor cycles had come from Thimbirigasyaya along the Kirula Road, and had been seen observing the SLPI building before heading back to Thimbirigasyaya.
The day after the incident, around 9 a.m. a motor bike without number plates was reportedly seen going up and down Kirula Road past the SLPI building while the pillion rider appeared to be studying the building.
Previously, on June 14, Namal had received a suspicious telephone call and he had made an entry at the Narahenpitiya police station. On May 27, a suspicious person dressed in army uniform was seen entering and leaving the SLPI after making inquiries about certain staff members.
The Colombo Crime Division is conducting investigations. SSP Anura Senanayake, the Director of the CCD declined to comment on the ongoing investigations. He said although many people gathered at the scene, no photograph had been taken of the van which would have been useful for the investigations. No progress has yet been made in arresting the assailants.
Meanwhile Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said that the Ministerial Sub Committee appointed to look into grievances of journalists would be meeting tomorrow to discuss current issues and the situation faced by journalists. “We have three police teams investigating the matter and we are trying our best to find out who is behind the attacks,” he said.
The Ministerial Sub-Committee had been informed of the incident around 6.40 p.m. the same day and the coordinator T. Chandrasekara had alerted the Kirulapone and Narahenpita police and the ministers on the Committee.
Dominic Williams, the spokesperson for the British High Commission said that they are cooperating with the law enforcement authorities in the investigations. He declined to elaborate on the matter.
Impartial inquiry: SLPI
Condemning the attack, the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) along with other media organizations urged authorities to hold an independent inquiry into the attack and bring the perpetrators to book.
“Within the past two years, 14 journalists and media workers have been killed. This latest incident is sadly typical of the rampant assault on democracy and the freedom of expression that is taking place in the country,” the SLPI said.
The SLPI and its staff have been subjected to threats and intimidation leading to the May 22 assault and abduction, as was in the case of Mr. Keith Noyahr, Associate Editor and Defence Writer of The Nation and visiting lecturer of the Sri Lanka College of Journalism and affiliate of the SLPI. On May 27, a suspicious person dressed in Army uniform was seen entering and leaving SLPI after making inquiries about certain staff members. Last month, the SLPI strongly refuted the super lead story of the Dinamina newspaper titled ‘Eight Tigers sent to Norway under journalist label’ as baseless, misleading and factually incorrect.
FMM monitoring Govt.
The Free Media Movement (FMM) said that the organization would be treating this case as the litmus test and that it would be closely monitoring the actions taken by the Government, in particular that of the Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by Minister Sarath Amunugama looking into the grievances of journalists, to bring the perpetrators to justice in this latest criminal actThe FMM also called on all citizens to regard these revolting attacks on journalists as an assault on democracy and human rights of all Sri Lankans. “There are no credible investigations into these attacks. Lack of critical voices in the media has created a dangerous context for the few journalists who would dare to speak out,” the FMM said.
Foreign Correspondents call for thorough probe
The Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Sri Lanka also condemned the attack and called upon authorities to carry out a thorough investigation and to bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime.
Britain condemns
Condemning the attack on his staff member Mahendra Ratnaweera and on journalist Namal Perera, Dr. Peter Hayes, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka said the High Commission would work closely with local authorities to ensure that the perpetrators of this disgraceful act are brought to justice.
“I condemn in the strongest terms this despicable attack on innocent civilians. We take extremely seriously the safety of our staff. It is essential that the perpetrators of this disgraceful act are brought to justice,” Dr. Hayes said.
CPJ blames Govt.
Blaming the Government for the prevailing culture of impunity, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Asia Programme coordinator Bob Dietz said the attack on Namal Perera and Mahendra Ratnaweera is yet another example of the violence and intimidation aimed at journalists in Sri Lanka.
“These attacks have gone uninvestigated and un-prosecuted. The Government is responsible for the culture of impunity that surrounds violence against journalists. It is time to reverse the ugly reality,” he said.
“Mr. Perera told reporters he is convinced the attackers targeted him. He has recently criticised the Government’s actions in its campaign against secessionist Tamil rebels,” the CPJ said.
US wants swift justice
The United States Embassy in Sri Lanka also condemned the attack and called on the authorities to bring the perpetrators of this crime swiftly to justice.
The US Embassy also expressed deep concern over the series of recent incidents involving members of the media stating that a press free of intimidation is an essential component of any democracy.
“We note the recent formation of a ministerial committee to ensure the independence of the media, inquire into complaints of harassment and death threats against media personnel and intervene where warranted, and hope this leads to a more conducive environment for the practice of journalism in Sri Lanka,” the US Embassy said.
Call for positive action to prevent recurrence
The Newspaper Publishers of Sri Lanka requested President Mahinda Rajapaksa to take appropriate positive steps to prevent any further occurrences of incidents where lives of journalists would be at risk.
Responding to President Rajapaksa’s statement that “there is a conspiracy to attack journalists and to make the Government uneasy,” Newspaper Publishers said they hope a speedy conclusion of the investigation and the establishing of the identity of those responsible will be arrived at. They further stated that the intervention of the President would lead to the immediate apprehension of those responsible for the attack on Namal Perera and previous incidents.
“This, we believe, would be in the interest of both – the freedom of expression and good governance”, newspaper publishers including Wijeya Newspapers, Upali Newspapers, Express Newspapers, Sumathi Newspapers, Leader Publications, New Uthayan Publications and Thinakkural Publications said in a letter to the President.
 |
| SLPI chairman Kumar Nadesan addressing the media |
Earlier this week the Publishers’ Association (PA) and the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) announced a Rs. 5 million reward for any information on Namal Perera’s assailants and the President has stated that he would enhance the reward.
In a media conference the publishers, SLPI and the Editors’ Guild said they are deeply concerned that the frequency of such incidents has increased in the last two years. The attack on Namal Perera comes just over a month after the abduction and assault on ‘The Nation’ Associate Editor Keith Noyahr.
The increasing assaults on journalists and the request to the President to actively take part in investigations were some issues raised at the media conference. Insuring journalists whose work involves taking personal risks, practising ethical journalism and establishing democracy were also discussed at the media conference.
Journalists representing all media organisations protested on Wednesday at Kollupitiya junction against the attack on Namal Perera and requested the President and the police to arrest the people and parties behind such incidents.
Unarmed police barred the road preventing the protesting journalists from reaching the President’s official residence. However, the protesters claimed that the lives of journalists would be further at risk if the culprits behind the attacks were not found soon.
The Free Media Movement, Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Union, Movement against Media Suppression, Left Front and many other media organisations took part in the protest.
Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and other UNP MPs as well as SLMC chief Rauf Hakeem and party supporters too participated in the protest. “We are ready to walk alongside journalists to help them to gain freedom,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said blaming the armed forces for the attacks.
| 
E-mail