POST ELECTION: NEW THREATS TO MEDIA FREEDOM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 000082 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2020 TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS CE SUBJECT: POST ELECTION: NEW THREATS TO MEDIA FREEDOM REF: COLOMBO 76 COLOMBO 00000082 001.2 OF 004 Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA A. BUTENIS. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Sri Lanka's presidential election has brought a new wave of official and unofficial pressure on media outlets and attacks against journalists. MTV (Sirisa), a popular private television and radio conglomerate, has received official warning that it must cease airing anti-government stories or face the revocation of its broadcast licenses. Online journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda vanished (and was feared kidnapped) shortly before the election; his welfare and whereabouts remain unknown. The government also shut down the JVP newspaper, Lanka, after it had published anti-government material during the campaign. A general climate of fear has reemerged among Sri Lankan journalists. END SUMMARY. MTV WARNED NOT TO CRITICIZE GOVERNMENT -------------- ¶2. (C) Since the presidential election on January 26, the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) has intensified actions against media outlets that it perceived gave the government unfavorable coverage during the campaign. Sirisa Media Network (MTV),the largest private electronic media (television and radio) in the country, has been under increased GSL pressure. On January 28, Channel Director (CEO equivalent) Chevaan Daniels told PAO that he had received a call that morning from the Director of Information, telling Daniels that MTV should pay attention not to air stories critical of the government for at least one month. ¶3. (C) Later that day, Daniels and other media executives were summoned to Temple Trees, the official residence of the president, for a meeting with the newly reelected Rajapaksa. At the meeting, the president told media executives that he knew that some people in the room were for him during the campaign and some were critical. Rather than adopt a conciliatory tone, Daniels said the president warned the executives that action would be taken against media outlets that tried to disrupt racial harmony or support terrorism -- code words for disloyalty to the Rajapaksa regime. ¶4. (C) After the meeting, according to Daniels, the Director of Information asked him if he would like a private moment with the president to congratulate him on the victory. Daniels then met the president, who was standing with two other assistants. Rajapaksa, in a harsh tone, told Daniels that he knew that MTV was against him and that they would face consequences. The two assistants cited a number of "violations" to illustrate his point. GOVERNMENT THREATENS TO PULL MTV LICENSE -------------- ¶5. (C) On January 30, MTV received a letter from W. B. Ganegala, Secretary in the Ministry of Mass Media and Information. The letter opened: "It has been observed that your Radio and Television Networks have been broadcasting news and other programs at times in a provocative and inciting manner which will have a serious impact on the normal public and social order." The letter claimed that MTV "gave undue publicity to false statements made by a defeated Presidential Candidate and some other persons who supported him." The letter closed by urging MTV to be more "responsible whenever you broadcast sensitive information which has direct impact on Children's Rights, National Security, Sri Lankan Identity, Communal Harmony and (the) COLOMBO 00000082 002.2 OF 004 Good image of the country at large... Unless you adopt a more responsible approach toward your broadcasts, we will be compelled to take appropriate action in terms of the provisions of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation Act No. 37 of 1967, the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Act No. 6 of 1982 and other relevant laws of the country." Other language in the letter implied that the company's broadcasting license was at risk of cancellation. ¶6. (C) PAO met with Daniels on February 1 to discuss the letter. Daniels said MTV would not stand down, despite the letter, and would continue to broadcast news it deemed relevant for Sri Lankans to know. Daniels said MTV would respond with a letter that would outline 22 instances during the campaign when MTV gave essentially free air time to the president, along with notes of praise received from GSL officials on MTV's election coverage. Further, MTV would advocate that the 4.5 million Sri Lankans who voted for General Fonseka had a right to know what their candidate was now saying. If the tables were turned and the president had lost, MTV would also cover Rajapaksa's statements. ¶7. (C) Daniels also outlined a number of threats against him and other employees. Daniels said that on January 30, he received a call from a man speaking in Sinhala who said that he and his family would be burned with acid (a relatively common attack technique in Sri Lanka). Daniels is changing homes and modes of transportation on a near-daily basis. LANKA-E-NEWS JOURNALIST REMAINS MISSING -------------- ¶8. (C) MTV is just one of many examples of what appears to be the government's campaign to silence critical media. Lanka-e-News, an online news site with a heavy UNP-slant, saw the disappearance and presumed kidnapping of Prageeth Eknaligoda, a contributing journalist. On January 25, Eknaligoda's wife reported to police that her husband was missing. On January 25, Ambassador Butenis contacted the Foreign Secretary to register U.S. concerns over the disappearance. MFA Foreign Secretary Romesh Jayasinghe responded that the government would order a thorough investigation. ¶9. (C) Despite the pledge by the foreign secretary, there has been no progress on finding Eknaligoda. On January 29, PAO met with the wife and two teenage sons of the missing journalist as well as Lanka-e-News editor Sansaruwan Senedeera. The editor detailed suspicious white vans that had been spotted outside the website's offices prior to the attack, as well as death threats that employees continued to receive. He also noted that "paramilitaries" surrounded the premises on the evening of January 28 and placed a padlock on the gate. Eknaligoda's wife also said she feared for her safety. Two organizations present at the meeting pledged to augment physical security at the paper, provide a safe house for the editor, and give limited financial support to the family. PAO promised that Embassy would continue to raise the issue with GSL officials. On February 1, PolOff met Eknaligoda's family and colleagues, though they had no new updates on his situation. Senedeera, however, told PolOff that they had been questioned by the Criminal Investigation Unit (CID) over the past year and that on January 29, the website offices received 40 threatening phone calls in 45 minutes. PRO-JVP LANKAN SEALED BY POLICE -------------- COLOMBO 00000082 003.2 OF 004 ¶10. (C) Another media outlet under official pressure since the election is the "Lankan" newspaper. An unofficial mouthpiece of the opposition party JVP, the paper published numerous stories critical of the government during the recent presidential election. One story alleged that the Los Angeles house of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, defense secretary and brother of the president, was paid for by the GSL. On January 29, three days after the election, the paper's editor, Chandan Sirimalwatte, was questioned and detained by CID. The paper's offices were also sealed as CID deemed the paper to be a threat to national security. On February 1, however, a court overruled CID's action and ordered that the offices be opened. SUNDAY LEADER RECEIVES THREATS -------------- ¶11. (C) On January 29, PAO met with Lal Wickrematunge, owner of the Sunday Leader, the English-language weekly whose editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was murdered in January 2009. Lal expressed continued concern for the safety of his staff. Several of his senior employees were currently in safe houses and one editor from the Leader's Sinhala-language paper had tendered his resignation. Employees of the paper continued to receive threats. Lal and his editorial team have decided to limit coverage of controversial topics over the next few weeks, fearing for the safety of the staff. STATE MEDIA PERSONNEL NOT SPARED RETRIBUTION -------------- ¶12. (C) Even state media, which unabashedly gave its full support to the president during the campaign, has not been immune from the post-election media clampdown. During the past several days, several employees have been sacked at state-owned Rupavahini, one of only two television networks to reach all parts of the island (both are state-owned). According to contacts, 12 employees who were believed to be supporters of General Fonseka so far had been terminated. ¶13. (C) Adding to the rash of media dismissals, Priyantha Kariyapperuma, Director General of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC),submitted his resignation on February 2. Priyantha and his brother Roshantha had been major supporters of President Rajapaksa's 2005 campaign. Roshantha is also the owner of Siritha Television and Radio, Real Radio, and Vettri Radio. According to media contacts, the president recently learned that the two brothers had met with General Fonseka and were believed to be financially supporting Fonseka's campaign. During election night in Colombo, Siritha Television and MTV were the two local television stations that were surrounded by military. COMMENT -------------- ¶14. (C) This renewed encroachment on media freedom is another example of the government's clampdown on opposition voices and assertion of control over the message. The Ambassador continues to engage high-level GSL officials, including most recently Foreign Minister Bogollagama (reftel) and Minister of Justice Malinda Moragoda, raising concerns about media freedom and the treatment of Fonseka. Other Post officers also are engaged with the issues and remain in close contact with opposition figures and embattled journalists. Other missions are actively engaged as well, and we understand the EU heads of mission will be meeting FM Bogollagama Thursday to deliver a message similar to the Ambassador's in the context of the GSP-plus trade preference. COLOMBO 00000082 004.2 OF 004 BUTENIS