Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09COLOMBO281
2009-03-12 11:43:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:
SRI LANKA: OPPOSITION MEDIA ADVISOR ABDUCTED, THEN
how-toP 121143Z MAR 09 FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9561 INFO AMEMBASSY ATHENS AMEMBASSY DHAKA AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU AMEMBASSY LONDON AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI AMEMBASSY OSLO AMEMBASSY TOKYO AMCONSUL CHENNAI AMCONSUL MUMBAI AMCONSUL TORONTO HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI USMISSION GENEVA DIA WASHINGTON DC NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC USEU BRUSSELS
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000281
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2018
TAGS: PHUM PREL PINS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: OPPOSITION MEDIA ADVISOR ABDUCTED, THEN
RELEASED
REF: COLOMBO 218
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b,d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000281
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2018
TAGS: PHUM PREL PINS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: OPPOSITION MEDIA ADVISOR ABDUCTED, THEN
RELEASED
REF: COLOMBO 218
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b,d).
1. (U) At approximately 19:30 local time on March 11,
Professor Dhammika Ganganath Dissanayake, the former Chairman
of the State Broadcasting Corporation, was abducted by men in
civilian clothes who came in a white van. Early in the
morning of March 12 Dissanayake was released unharmed more
than 20 km from his home. Dissanayake is currently a Media
Lecturer at Sri Jayawardenepura University in Colombo and a
media advisor to UNP Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.
2. (C) Ambassador spoke with Wickremesinghe early in the
morning of March 12. The Opposition Leader reported that two
uniformed policeman had come to the professor's house the
afternoon of March 11 to ask some questions. During the
abduction that evening, a houseboy at the professor's
residence recognized one of the abductors, who was in
civilian clothes, as one of the policemen who had visited
earlier in the day. Wickremesinghe reported that
Dissanayake, who has intermittently advised the UNP on media
issues, is working on a book about abductions. The
abductors, according to the UNP leader, asked for an draft of
the book which Dissanayake did not have. (Note: According to
an article in a state-owned newspaper dated February 27, the
book was believed to be sharply critical of President
Rajapaksa and his younger brother, Defense Secretary
Gothabaya Rajapaksa. Dissanayake travels frequently to
Australia for medical treatment, and most likely keeps the
draft there.)
3. (C) COMMENT: The houseboy's claim that at least one of the
policemen who questioned Dissanayake participated in the
abduction is plausible. The topic of Dissanayake's book is
the almost certainly the cause of the heightened police
interest in the professor. Unlike Sudar Oli editor
Vidyatharan, (ref A),who is still in detention and whose
abduction/arrest raised questions about likely government
complicity in the large number of "disappearances" in the
country, Dissanayake was released quickly. His Sinhalese
ethnicity and his strong connections to the main opposition
UNP probably ensured his quick release and relatively good
treatment during the incident.
BLAKE
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2018
TAGS: PHUM PREL PINS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: OPPOSITION MEDIA ADVISOR ABDUCTED, THEN
RELEASED
REF: COLOMBO 218
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b,d).
1. (U) At approximately 19:30 local time on March 11,
Professor Dhammika Ganganath Dissanayake, the former Chairman
of the State Broadcasting Corporation, was abducted by men in
civilian clothes who came in a white van. Early in the
morning of March 12 Dissanayake was released unharmed more
than 20 km from his home. Dissanayake is currently a Media
Lecturer at Sri Jayawardenepura University in Colombo and a
media advisor to UNP Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.
2. (C) Ambassador spoke with Wickremesinghe early in the
morning of March 12. The Opposition Leader reported that two
uniformed policeman had come to the professor's house the
afternoon of March 11 to ask some questions. During the
abduction that evening, a houseboy at the professor's
residence recognized one of the abductors, who was in
civilian clothes, as one of the policemen who had visited
earlier in the day. Wickremesinghe reported that
Dissanayake, who has intermittently advised the UNP on media
issues, is working on a book about abductions. The
abductors, according to the UNP leader, asked for an draft of
the book which Dissanayake did not have. (Note: According to
an article in a state-owned newspaper dated February 27, the
book was believed to be sharply critical of President
Rajapaksa and his younger brother, Defense Secretary
Gothabaya Rajapaksa. Dissanayake travels frequently to
Australia for medical treatment, and most likely keeps the
draft there.)
3. (C) COMMENT: The houseboy's claim that at least one of the
policemen who questioned Dissanayake participated in the
abduction is plausible. The topic of Dissanayake's book is
the almost certainly the cause of the heightened police
interest in the professor. Unlike Sudar Oli editor
Vidyatharan, (ref A),who is still in detention and whose
abduction/arrest raised questions about likely government
complicity in the large number of "disappearances" in the
country, Dissanayake was released quickly. His Sinhalese
ethnicity and his strong connections to the main opposition
UNP probably ensured his quick release and relatively good
treatment during the incident.
BLAKE