Tissanayagam and Julian Assange

Julian Assange and Jayaprakash Tissanayagam are both journalists, albeit operating in two different spectrums. The former is the fonder of Wikileaks a media organization that deals in international news with a true international reach while the letter was the convener of the news bulletin Outreach founded for the purpose of exposing the ‘war crimes’ during the Sri Lankan conflict to the European Union.

The former is self-financed while the latter was funded by FLICT, a European organization said to promote ‘Freedom of expression’ in developing countries.

Tissnayagam was convicted by the Sri Lanka courts for giving a falsified interpretation of the facts to support terrorism against the legitimate Government of Sri Lanka while Julian Assange only exposed the wonton civilian killings indulged in by the American Forces in Iraq. Yet, while Jayaprakash Thissanayagam is a free man like any other in Sri Lanka today Julian Assange is a ‘fugitive’ seeking asylum in Switzerland hunted by the CIA accused by the American Government for exposing ‘sensitive material’.

National security

Undermining national security of a State is a serious crime as it tantamount to undermining the law and order and peace of the State.

After Tissanayagam was convicted the Sri Lanka Government was put under so much pressure by the Western agencies in the name of ‘Freedom of expression’ and even economic embargos such as the GSP + facility was used against Sri Lanka by the EU to ensure Tissanayagam’s freedom.

Finally President Obama himself cited the case of Tissanayagam in his ‘freedom day’ speech.

A country like Sri Lanka naturally do not wish to earn the wreath of the world powers and therefore had to bear up with global posturing even if that meant a threat to its national security.

Thus Tissanayagam was released by Sri Lankan authorities on Presidential prerogative to keep good relations with the West.

Julian Assange on the other hand neither exposed sensitive information about the American security establishment to the world nor interpreted facts to give a wrong impression about American activities but just reported facts as they are in countries where NATO Forces are engaged in fighting ‘terrorism’.

The other point of interest is how could Assange expose American defense by exposing what is happening in Iraq /Afghanistan and if at all if he has exposed anything by that act it must impinge on the national security of Iraq and Afghanistan rather than on American security.

World super powers

The reality however is that world super powers like America has assumed unquestionable writ to invade any country in the world at their whim and fancy, citing threats to American national security.

This is nothing but colonialism in a ‘national security mask’ and inspite of all the talk about ‘international order’ in today’s world there is no International mechanism even to question such activities. Thus, in the current international order, peace has become a prerogative of the privileged and powerful.

It would be interesting to ascertain how CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists), the International watchdog on journalist well-being based in Europe, reacts to these new developments on freedom of expression in the international media.

After all, they played such a crucial role in Sri Lanka during the conflict even undermining Sri Lanka’s national security.

During the height of the Sri Lankan conflict on June 15, 2008 the CPJ wrote to President Rajapaksa expressing concern over freedom of expression in the country thus, ‘Of particular concern is the fact that the Defence Ministry has repeatedly used its website to denounce and even condemn journalists, often individually by name and at other times as a group, for their reporting on the conflict and the activities of the Ministry and the Armed Forces.

The Ministry’s May 31 posting was exceptionally chilling. It clearly implies that anyone reporting negative news about the war or the Ministry activities is guilty of treachery or worse’.

False allegations

Now all what this particular posting of the Defence Ministry made on May 31, 2008 said was, ‘Whoever attempts to reduce the public support to the military by making false allegations and directing baseless criticism at Armed Forces personnel is supporting the terrorists organization that continuously murder citizens of Sri Lanka.

The Ministry will continue to expose these traitors and their sinister motives and does not consider such exposure as a threat to media freedom.

Those who commit such treachery should identify themselves with the LTTE rather than showing themselves as crusaders of media freedom?

Now what the ordinary citizens of Sri Lanka would wish to know is, what really is so abhorrent that the CPJ finds in the above posting of the Defence Ministry? Aren’t those who make false allegations against the Armed Forces personnel at a decisive time of this long drawn out conflict not traitors? If not what do they call such people in the countries that sponsor organizations such as the CPJ?

What is worse is that CPJ has misinterpreted the Ministry statement as above and this misinterpretation appears intentionally done in order to give the contents of the statement a slight twist to make it ‘anti free press’ so that it can be targeted with ‘freedom of expression’ ammunition. How ethical are such distortions by organizations such as CPJ who justify their activities on journalistic ethics’?

Small States

However with the Interpol presently in pursuit of Julian Assange, the CPJ now has a chance to prove its bona fides on ‘freedom of expression’ if it rises to his defense. If not organizations like the CPJ would stand exposed as agents set up to undermine the national security of small States to facilitate the global ambitions of their patrons.

When Voltaire expressed his willingness to die for press freedom he would never have thought that some day the freedom of press would sink to such depths of corruption that it would be used as a guise to justify world imperialism. [email protected]