SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT TELLS PRESS TO TOE THE LINE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000581

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PTER MOPS PREL CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT TELLS PRESS TO TOE THE LINE

REF: A. COLOMBO 528

B. COLOMBO 507

Classified By: Charge d' Affaires James R. Moore for reasons 1.4(b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Two senior journalists told Embassy that
President Rajapaksa called in the heads of Sri Lanka's major
media outlets on June 6 to criticize their coverage of the
war and instructed them to avoid publishing any sensitive or
derogatory military information. The President implied that
unless the press cooperated, the government would pass strict
war censorship and defamation legislation. The meeting
represents the latest in a series of actions taken by the
government to intimidate the media into publishing only
positive accounts of the war. End Summary.


2. (C) Defense journalist Iqbal Athas (protect) told Pol
Chief that on June 6 President Rajapaksa called in senior
editors and publishers of most of Sri Lanka's major media
outlets for an impromptu two-hour meeting. Athas received an
account of the proceedings from his employer, the publisher
of the Sunday Times. The President administered a severe
tongue-lashing, telling the journalists that he would not
tolerate them printing stories critical of the government's
war effort. He reassured them about their security, however,
saying that those who had left the country recently (reftels)
should return. But critical articles on military topics must
stop. Athas reported that Rajapaksa accused the victim of a
recent attack, journalist Keith Noyahr, of not cooperating
with authorities in their investigation. The President told
the media representatives that failure to comply with his
directive would lead to the government legislating strict
censorship and criminal defamation measures to keep them in
line.


3. (C) Daily Mirror defense correspondent Sunil Jayasiri
(protect) confirmed Athas's report in a conversation with
PAO. Jayasiri also had not attended himself but was briefed
on the meeting by the paper's owner Wijeya. When the media
leaders arrived, Secretary of Defense Gothabaya Rajapaksa,
Media Minister Yapa, Presidential Secretary Weeratunga and
Director General of the Media Center for National Security
Lakshman Hulugalle were also in attendance. The President,
according to Jayasiri, demonstrated that he "wanted to
prevent journalists from writing on sensitive military and
political matters." He also instructed them not to report on
the meeting. (Note: No accounts of the meeting have appeared
so far in the Sri Lankan press.)


4. (C) According to Jayasiri, the President instructed the
media not to disclose any sensitive military information,
including arms procurement, troop movements, potential
targets, promotions and transfers of security personnel --
and generally "anything that would damage the morale of
security force members." He reassured the journalists of
their security. He touched briefly on the case of Keith
Noyahr, saying that Noyahr was not cooperating with the
investigators and was thus hampering the investigation (ref
B). (Note: our contacts have reported that Noyahr's
abductors threatened his family if he cooperated with the
investigators.) The President singled out defense columnist
Iqbal Athas' writing for severe criticism, and also brought
up a column by Sunday Lakbima News Editor Rajpal Abeyaike, in
which Abeyaike called the President a dictator. Lakbima News
Managing Director Thilanga Sumathipala apologized to the
President, promising it would not happen again.


5. (C) Jayasiri said the meeting was precipitated by the
desire of the Defense Secretary, along with the Army and Navy
Commanders, to introduce draconian legislation imposing war
censorship. The military also wanted to reinstate Sri
Lanka's criminal defamation law, abolished by the previous
administration under former Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe. The President reportedly resisted this

COLOMBO 00000581 002 OF 002


pressure at the most recent Security Council meeting, saying
he would personally speak to media chiefs and give them one
more chance.


6. (C) COMMENT: The meeting represents the latest step in an
escalating campaign by the Government to intimidate and
restrict media coverage of the war (ref A). With the rising
cost of living, the government's popularity rests on the
public's support of its military offensive against the
Tigers. The President is clearly concerned that if the media
is allowed to report on the war freely, it could contradict
the government's narrative of steady progress against the
Tigers and erode the foundation of President Rajapaksa's
popularity. The GSL knows, however, that an overt move to
legislate press censorship would attract worldwide criticism.
The Rajapaksas have therefore reverted to tried-and-true
tactics of "friendly persuasion" to try to hold Sri Lanka's
independent press in check.
MOORE