A globally acclaimed Tamil journalist, who has been reporting about the Vanni region in general and war-affected people in particular for several years, has been summoned to the anti-terror police for the first time under the National People’s Power (NPP) government.
Journalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan’s reporting is one of the key matters targeted by the Police’s Counter-Terrorism Investigation Division (CTID) during questioning.
When questioned about the government’s stance regarding the anti-terror police’s questioning of the journalist, who is currently reporting on the recently discovered mass grave in the war-affected North, the Cabinet Spokesperson said that he would respond to those questions at the next Cabinet press briefing.
Cabinet Spokesperson Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, who also serves as the Health and Mass Media Minister, made this statement in response to a question posed by a journalist as to the government’s stance about exerting pressure on the journalist who is reporting on the mass graves found in Jaffna, in a context where Sri Lanka’s situation is scheduled to be discussed during the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Generally, there is a tendency in our country to exaggerate certain incidents or resort to false reporting of certain incidents targeting human rights sessions.”
The CTID had extensively questioned journalist and human rights defender Kumanan despite the fact that the international community has condemned the anti-terror police summoning him.
Following a summons issued by the CTID to the journalist, attorney Nadarajah Kandeepan had accompanied Kumanan to the CTID office in Alampil, Mullaitivu, on 17 August. Kandeepan said that the head of the CTID and three other police officers questioned the journalist for over six hours.
Revealing that the journalist was questioned about his personal dealings and news stories that he had published, the attorney emphasized that the police officers informed the journalist to refrain from discussing any information regarding the interrogation in public.
“During this this interrogation, he was questioned for more than six hours about matters including his information, his bank accounts, telephone communications, and news stories that he had published on social media platforms as a journalist. He was informed not to discuss this interrogation in public. In addition, he was ordered to be present if he was summoned for further investigations.”
Recalling that a court order had to be obtained in order to get former Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando’s bank account details for an investigation, attorney Kandeepan pointed out that the fact that the CTID questioned the journalist about his bank account details without having obtained such a court order is harassment against the journalist.
“What Kumanan has done is something that every journalist does. We know that a court order had to be obtained in order to get Hemasiri Fernando’s bank account details. During the interrogation, questions were asked about bank account details and financial transactions. I therefore think that this is a blatant act of harassment. We will obtain expert opinion and take the necessary action in the due course.”
The attorney has strongly condemned the fact that the NPP government, which came to power promising to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), is enforcing it against journalists.
“The imposition of restrictions on the media, which is considered the fourth pillar of democracy, cannot be allowed. We strongly condemn the fact that the government, which promised to repeal the PTA, is once again using that Act to such terrible intimidations and threats,” he said.
Claiming that the investigations being conducted against Kumanan are illegal, the attorney had expressed suspicion that it is politically motivated.
“The investigation against Kumanan is illegal and unjust. We believe that this is politically motivated,” he added.
Kumanan, who is a visual journalist and also the President of the Mullaitivu Press Club, has attracted international attention for his photographic and documentary exposure of crimes and corruption including human rights violations in the war-affected North.
The photographs taken by Kumanan focused not only on war-affected Tamil people’s life but also on the Galle Face struggle, and they have been published by international media outlets including the Daily Telegraph, Vice World News, Evening Standard, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and the BBC.
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