H. E. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
President of Sri Lanka
Office of the President
Colombo
Sri Lanka

Vienna, 3 March 1998

The International Press Institute (IPI) is most concerned about the campaign of harassment and intimidation being waged against Iqbal Athas, Defence Correspondent and Consulting Editor of the Colombo Sunday Times.

As you have been informed, the home of Iqbal Athas, one of Sri Lanka’s leading military reporters, was raided on 18 February 1998. At approximately 21:00, five armed men broke into his house and assaulted a household guard and the family cook. Athas, his wife and seven-year-old daughter, who were watching television on the second floor, were also accosted before one of the men told his partners to call off the attack, apparently worried that they might be caught. The men refused to identify themselves but, based on their appearance and the automatic pistols they were carrying, Athas believed that they were members of the Sri Lanken security forces.

Some three hours after the attack, a vehicle which earlier had been seen transporting the attackers returned to the neighbourhood and parked outside Athas’ home before leaving the vicinity. Although Athas immediately made a complaint to the police, protection was only forthcoming when he made a further complaint to the police and to the Defence Secretary after the armed group’s second appearance outside his home.

IPI fears that this latest incident may be a direct result of a recent series of exposés Athas has written for the Sunday Times on corruption in the Air Force. Athas has been the object of repeated harassment and intimidation, probably due to his Sunday Times reports. The raid on his house follows an apparent attempt to discredit Athas in November 1997, when a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrilla stated in a national television interview that his Sunday Times reports were of great interest to the guerrillas who are fighting a secessionist war against government forces. In June 1997, armed men placed his house under – apparently unauthorised – surveillance.

IPI, the global network of editors and media executives, urges Your Excellency to ensure that the authorities undertake a thorough investigation into this incident and that those responsible are brought to justice. We further urge that any findings with regard to this case are disclosed and that everything is done to end the campaign of harassment and intimidation against Iqbal Athas and his family.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director