Below is the full statement issued by FMETU against the investigation by The TID against Udayan’s editor.
2023 November 28
Press Statement.
The investigation against the Udayan editor was the TID against
Freedom of speech.
The editor of Udayan newspaper, Thangarasa Prabhakaran, was summoned to Colombo and an investigation was conducted at the Terrorist Investigation Division’s Kirulapana office on 27.11.23. It was to question the publication of a news item about LTTE leader Prabhakaran in Udayan News Paper about three years ago.
Udayan editor Thangarasa Prabhakaran was severely questioned by the Terrorism Investigation Division for four hours. Udayan Newspaper is a widely distributed newspaper among the people of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.
The news post about Prabhakaran’s birthday was published on November 26, 2020. Three years after the publication of the news, the author was called to the Terrorist Investigation Division and investigated for 4 hours, then a recorded statement from him.
The newspaper published this note with Prabhakaran’s picture on the occasion of Prabhakaran’s birthday and Martyrs’ Day on November 27, 2020. Also, after three years, the Terrorist Investigation Division investigated the news and then filed a Court Case against the author in the Jaffna Court recently.
The Jaffna press circle and the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union unitedly say and that they believe It is obviously a blatant violation of the freedom of expression. The Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Unions is affiliate member organization of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the strongest media organization in the world with over six hundred thousand members of 167 media organizations in 146 countries.
Thanking You,
Dharmasiri Lankapeli
General Secretary