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Mohan Samaranayake subjected to undue pressure: Weerawansa



Mohan
Samaranayake

COLOMBO: JVP Parliamentarian and Publicity Secretary Wimal Weerawansa making a special statement in Parliament yesterday said it is common knowledge that the press officer attached to the UN Office in Colombo Mohan Samaranayake who is a senior and renowned journalist has been subjected to undue pressure today.

Since the fate that has befallen Samaranayake clearly divulged the role played in Sri Lanka by the bigwigs of the UN office in Colombo, it should draw the attention of this august assembly, he said.

An interview with Samaranayake was published in the Divaina of January 14. It was headlined ‘Saddam was hanged for killing 146, Prabhakaran who killed thousands protected.’

A translation of this interview was published in the Daily News of January 17 with the same headline.

Following the interview the heads of the Colombo UN Office made it an issue to get activated against Samaranayake. Accordingly, the spokesperson for the Colombo UN office Orla Clinton had lodged a complaint against Samaranayake to the UN Headquarters.

As a result, the UN Headquarters has taken steps to issue a show cause notice on Samaranayake. According to media reports the end result may be the dismissal of Samaranayake from his job, Weerawansa said.

“Samaranayake has not made such a serious statement for heads of the Colombo UN office to get rattled. We don’t know whether they are aware of Section 19 of the universal declaration of Human Rights adopted by UN on December 10, 1948.

It states that everyone has the right to adopt or publish his opinion or ideas and views without obstruction. It also includes the right to elicit, gather and publish information without any restriction or limitations. Why isn’t this right applicable to Samaranayake?” Weerawansa asked.

It is not to settle a personal score that heads of the Colombo UN Office are trying to hunt down Samaranayake. They have understood that there is a world of difference between their intentions in Sri Lanka and the stands taken by Samaranayake. Therefore, they waited for an opportunity to strike at him. Why is it so, the JVP Parliamentarian asked.

Samaranayake is an intelligent journalist who openly criticised Western imperialism. He clearly analyses the close link between separatism and Western imperialism. He also vehemently opposed Tiger terrorism. Unlike certain officer Sri Lankans working in international institutions, he has not severed from his roots and aimlessly flown in the open skies, Weerawansa said.

“That is why the heads of the Colombo UN office want to victimise him,” he said. “It is these very same heads of the Colombo UN office who made former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to issue a condolence message on the death of LTTE terrorist Kaushalyan. They also made a desperate attempt to arrange a meeting between Annan and LTTE terrorists in Mullaitivu when he made a post-tsunami visit to Sri Lanka.”

Weerawansa said: “It is also these heads of the Colombo UN Office who brought down Alan Rock to Sri Lanka as a representative of the UN Rapporteur on war and recruitment of child soldiers and got him to level false charges against Security Forces saying they are aiding and abetting the recruitment of child soldiers. Radhika Coomaraswamy has been appointed as UN Rapporteur on war and child recruitment as part of this conspiracy.

The person named as successor to the former head of the UN mission in Colombo Miguel Burmeo has been engaged in humanitarian activities in the recently divided states of East Timor and Bosnia.

We feel that it is just not by accident that the UN hierarchy is sending down people who have shown their colours in separated states to Sri Lanka.

The Colombo UN office is infested with Tiger sympathizers. If people are displaced in a certain area they try to keep them indefinitely in IDP camps. This is part of a conspiracy against the Sri Lanka state. Many former UN employees have later joined the TRO.

All these facts prove that the UN office in Colombo is engaged in politics against the state and they are sympathising with separatists. They get provoked whenever any statements are made against Prabhakaran.

Why do the heads of the UN office in Colombo sympathise with a criminal terrorist organisation striving to curve out a separate state in their member state after enjoying all diplomatic privileges including free land and premises, tax concessions and obtaining UN membership fees. They will certainly provide a more clear answer to this question in the near future.

We should take action against the fate that has befallen Samaranayake because it clearly portrayed the fate that had befallen Sri Lanka at the hands of the heads of the Colombo UN office. I hope the government and the people would clearly understand this.”

 

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