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International award for jailed Tissainayagam |
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2009-09-02 | 4.30 PM |
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The French based media organization, Reporters Without Borders Borders have announced today that journalist J.S. Tissainayagam, who has been sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment, will be the first winner of the Peter Mackler Prize.
The Peter Mackler Prize is a newly-created award for journalists who display great courage and professional integrity in countries where press freedom is not respected.
The prize will be awarded at a ceremony presided over by Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli at the National Press Club in Washington on October 2. |
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The award honours the memory of veteran Agence France-Presse reporter and editor Peter Mackler, who died last year.
Reporters Without Borders stated that it was appalled by the “shameful” 20-year jail sentence, which a Colombo high court passed on Tissainayagam on charges of supporting terrorism and inciting racial hatred in his articles.
“The imposition of this extremely severe sentence on Tissainayagam suggests that some Sri Lanka judges confuse justice with revenge,” Reporters Without Borders said. “With the help of confessions extracted by force and information that was false or distorted, the court has used an anti-terrorism law that was intended for terrorists, not for journalists and human rights activists.”
The press freedom organization has added: “We strongly hope that the appeal process adheres to the facts of the case and the spirit of the law. Meanwhile, until the appeal is heard, we urge the authorities to guarantee this journalist’s physical safety and health, which has deteriorated greatly while in detention.”
Reporters Without Borders also noted that when its representative met President Mahinda Rajapakse last October in Colombo, the president had pledged to examine the Tissainayagam case.
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