I could have survived unharmed if I toed the

Govt. line: Poddala Jayantha

2017-06-23
Former General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association
(SLWJA) Poddala Jayantha recently lodged a complaint with the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID), requesting an investigation into his abduction
and torture in June, 2009. Journalist Poddala Jayantha began his journalism
career in 1989 as a freelance journalist at Ravaya. Later, he joined Lake House and
was working as an investigative journalist at the time when he was abducted in a
white van and tortured. Later in 2010, he had fled the country and is currently
living in the USA under the status of a refugee. In an interview with
the Dailymirror , Jayantha said he could have survived unharmed if he toed the
government line, and as he did not do so, he had to pay the price.

Following are the excerpts of the interview:

Ambassadors of USA, UK, Switzerland and several European countries
suggested me to leave Sri Lanka.
Counseling was not helpful for me. I am still afraid of white vans.
Presidential Commission should be appointed with full powers to conduct
probes into journalist killings, abductions and threats.
I have fair suspicions about former Defence Secretary Gotabaya
Rajapaksa.
Television and radio channels were used to brand us as LTTE supporters.
But, all that we said was not to harm civilians during the war in vain
Q Why did it take this long for you to act against your abduction and assault?

After the government change, I had visited the country twice in 2015 and 2016.
The lack of confidence in the previous government made all my attempts futile to
come back to the country and demand prosecution against offenders of my
attack. It is obviously pointless to expect justice for me from the government
which is responsible for the attack.

Just after the change of government in 2015, I submitted a complaint to the IGP.
Later, I was informed that the President had appointed a committee to identify
aggrieved journalists of assaults and threats, and to compensate them. It was not
what I expected. I wrote to the government, reiterating that offenders of these
attacks on journalists like me should be brought to book.
However, the President had again appointed a Cabinet Sub-Committee,
comprising Ministers Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Mangala Samaraweera and
Gayantha Karunathilaka to grant measures of relief to media persons who were
subjected to harassment and oppression during the previous regime. Then, I sent
a letter to the Director-General of Information, Dr. Ranga Kalansuriya, who is also
the Secretary to the Cabinet Sub-Committee.

As suspects involved in the senior journalist Keith Noyahr abduction were

arrested, I sent another letter to the IGP via speed post, requesting him to probe
whether Keith Noyahrs suspects had any involvement in my abduction case too.
Two months later, the Mirihana SSP had emailed me, asking for the number of
the white van involved in my abduction.

I feared about the fact that this government too was trying to wash their hands
off the harassment cases of journalists by granting compensation without
ordering a probe into the cases. I wanted justice to be meted out, leaving an
example to the future so that it would help to halt such crimes being committed
in the future.

How fair is it to pay compensations from public money to aggrieved parties of

crimes committed by politicians? How can someone measure the financial value
of journalists who were subjected to oppression? For an example, how can the
government decide a certain amount to be paid as compensation for the loss of
former journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge? What I request from the Sirisena-
Wickremesinghe Government is the appointment of a presidential commission
with full powers to conduct a broad investigation into the acts of journalist
killings, abductions, threats and all types of attacks on media institutions. A social
discussion also should be created regarding the mistreatment of journalists.

Q At whom are you levelling charges of your abduction and assault?

I am not directly saying a name of a particular person as the mastermind of the

attack on me. Yet, I have fair doubts about former Defence Secretary Gotabaya
Rajapaksa.

Q On which basis are you charging him?

 Eight months before my abduction, Gotabaya Rajapaksa summoned me and the
President of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) Sanath
Balasuriya after we carried out a demonstration against the assault on Noyahr. He
clearly posed threats on the two of us saying it was unacceptable to criticize the
armed forces while working in State-run newspapers. He wanted to tell us that
anyone other than the leaders of the armed forces can be criticized.

We have been protesting against violence against the

media for a long time. During the meeting, Rajapaksa raised concerns against our
campaigns. It was not the first time that the Defence Secretary had threatened
journalists.

There is no doubt, my abduction and assault were ordered by the Rajapaksa

government. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is responsible as it happened
during his rule.

Q Journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda was tagged as a traitor and an LTTE supporter.

Were there such charges against you too?

I could have survived unharmed by the Rajapaksa rule if I toed the government
line. It was the price that I had to pay for standing against their system.

If there was any charge against me or Prageeth, they could have taken action as
per the prevailing laws in the country. There are law enforcement agencies. No
one has the power and legal right to assault or kill some person even if that
person is guilty for something.
Culprits are moving away from the rule of law and continue to roam free. I dont
want to get benefits from Sri Lanka
Television and radio channels were used to brand us as LTTE supporters. But, all
that we said was not to harm civilians during the war in vain. The government had
by then created an environment full of baseless allegations against us, so that
there would be reasons to justify our attack and make the people say that we
deserved such punishment.

I began my career in journalism in 1989 as a freelance journalist at Ravaya. Later, I

joined the government run newspaper Silumina. I get very upset when someone
tries to call me a traitor. Much of this reaction reflects the fact that I have used
my pen for a corruption-free Sri Lanka, by revealing the misdeeds of politicians. I
had a target in my career to help to bring the country to a better level. Those who
point fingers at me can at anytime find what I have written and then they may
decide whether I had harmful intentions towards my country.

If I were a traitor, I would never write about public money corruption cases which
ultimately caused the oppression to my profession and my life. Only I know how
difficult it was to write against the misdeeds of the government while working in a
government-run newspaper.

My mother was a tea-plucker and my father a rubber tapper. I come from a very

poor family in Poddala, Galle. I obtained free

education from my country and started working as a journalist. I know how
people at grass-root level feel as I was one. I have never had intentions to betray
my country for money.
QThe way you were abducted and assaulted in 2009 was already reported by the
media. It must be traumatic to even recall what happened that day.

I came to a safe house because of the first attempt to abduct me in 2008 failed.
The safe house was bought for me by the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) from
their Safety Fund. Frankly, I dont like someone asking me about the abduction
incident. Every time I recall that day, I still feel the experience and feel the fear.

I am suffering throughout my entire life. At times I felt the abductors should have
killed me on the spot without giving me such unbearable pain. I am still unable to
control myself when I remember the incident. Counseling too was not helpful for
me. Despite the fact that I am living far away from Sri Lanka, I am still afraid of
white vans. Only the victim knows how he feels. Abducting and torturing is
deliberate crime in the world because such victims spend the rest of their lives
with so much pain, which sometimes makes them feel like killing themselves to
get rid of it. After all, I am fighting now against injustice.

Q You had fled to India after the shooting of former Journalist Lasantha
Wickremetunge. By that time, why did you want to return under the same
government?

The campaign launched by us against Lasanthas murder was so effective that the
organisers including me received threatening calls which led us to leave the
country for a while. We stayed in Bangalore for three weeks. Others migrated to
European countries. I decided to come back to Sri Lanka because of some work I
had, on behalf of the SLWJA as its General Secretary. The date for the ceremony
to lay the foundation stone for the SLWJA office had been fixed before. It was our
dream to build an office for the SLWJA. There was a donor who gave us around 1
million rupees. In the meantime, I was abducted.

Q Even after eight months of your attack, you stayed in the country. In 2010, you
fled to USA. Did the dollars matter to you to leave Sri Lanka?
There were some journalists who took advantage of such opportunities. I am not
one of them.
Firstly, I wanted to stay until the opening of our office. Secondly, I had not wanted
to flee. I thought the attack was over and such things would not happen again. I
stayed at home for six months, walking with the support of crutches.

However, the threats were not over. After the SLWJA office opening, I received
threatening calls again. Those calls gave me an alarming feeling that I would not
get another chance to save my life if such a thing ever happened again. Despite
Ambassadors from various countries having told me to leave the country long
before, only after such calls, did I decide to leave.
Dont wash your hands off by appointing committees and ordering
compensation for victims of crimes.
However, it was not only the American Embassy that asked me to leave the
country. The embassies of UK, Switzerland and several other European countries
suggested I should come to their countries as a political asylum seeker, due to the
threats on my life. Other countries were ready to give me a visa, but asked me to
apply for political asylum later. It was only the USA that proposed to bring me to
their country even as a refugee. It would have been very difficult for me to be
bothered with the applying process of a political asylum seeker due to my
disability, if I had chosen some other country.

Q Your family members must have faced many difficulties because of these
consequences.

Yes. My daughter was in grade seven at the time I was attacked as a traitor and an
LTTE agent. She faced many difficulties in the school because even teachers had
asked the media reports about me from my 12-year-old daughter. After
complaining to the principal, he had instructed teachers to be mindful regarding
this matter. My daughter had to face many mental problems. Now, she is 20 and
in the third year of BA in Engineering. Just because of the government change, I
cant bring her back to Sri Lanka and abandon her. I may decide to settle in Sri
Lanka. Economically, it is better to stay in the USA. But, I prefer to stay here.
When I return after my daughter completes her higher education, I will start
journalism again.

Q How was your life in the USA? What did you do there?

Many websites had reported that I was having a comfortable life abroad. It was
wrong. I still struggle to live. I will never be able to get rid of that trauma.

When talking about my life there, I did a job because I was supposed to. In a
European country, you will be looked after until you settle down. Yet, the
situation in the USA was different. I was not given money to live. In spite of my
physical difficulty, I did small jobs for daily wages. As per the grant as a refugee, I
was provided a house and all other basic facilities. I also got medical insurance. All
the refugees who had come from other countries were treated in the same
manner. Now Im a permanent resident of the USA.

Q Do you see a change between the previous government and the current one?

The majority of Sri Lankans who voted for the change should be credited. The
voters wanted a government without corruption and crimes.

Q You must have heard about the unprecedented loss incurred due to the
Treasury bond scandal of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Yes. I am not in the view that this government was the best. It is not as good as
people expected it to be. But, we should be able to see positive features of this
government and admire them. Compared to the previous government, I
appreciate some decisions made by this government. Despite some shortcomings
to be addressed, the Right to Information Act is also a very good move.
I see the journey of this government is too slow. The process of taking legal action
against politicians and powerful characters has not changed apparently.
Subjectively, there is a positive change in the freedom of expression. I am not in a
position to give a certificate to the government. Who knows whether this
government would replace the white van?

QIf someone alleges that you have come here with a personal agenda or someone
elses agenda after many years seeking action against your assault?

Apart from being a voice for the voiceless, I didnt have any other agendas. I am
not bound to anyone. Even though I was sheltered by the USA, I am not such a
person who can be controlled by another hand. I still have guts to say no to those
who try to use me for their agendas. I have received such proposals. I have no
issue about living as a poor man, but I have never sold my conscience and my
character for temporary benefits.

QWhat do you want from the current government?

Lasantha Wickrematunga was gunned down. Taraki Sivaram is dead. We dont

know what happened to Prageeth. But, I am alive. I could survive luckily from the
deadly attack. It is my duty to stand for all the victimized journalists and fight until
justice is meted out. Those responsible for all these crimes have never been
brought to justice. Culprits are moving away from the rule of law and continue to
roam free. I dont want to get benefits from Sri Lanka. All that I demand is legal
action against those who were behind these crimes. Even after such crimes have
been committed, we have to go behind law enforcement agencies and beg of
them to do their job.

Q How was the support from journalists here for your fight for justice?

I was very happy to see journalists who had come outside the CID to speak with
me. A number media institutions already called me and extended their support. I
confirmed that I would come back to Sri Lanka after completion of my daughters
higher studies.
I want to say one more thing. Now, the Rajapaksa supporters are staging another
drama. They are talking about the existing media freedom.
There is no doubt, my abduction and assault were ordered by the Rajapaksa
government. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is responsible as it happened
during his ruling.
Those who committed national crimes dont even have a right to speak about
media freedom. I ask the government not to wash your hands off by appointing
committees and ordering compensation for victims of crimes. Only a very few
people in the Armed Forces are involved in several misdeeds. Therefore, we cant
put the blame on the entire Army. Those who gave orders should be punished.
Being in the Army cant be used as an excuse to evade the law.

Pix by Ishanka Sunimal

Posted by Thavam