Sri Lanka jails journalist who criticised war policy

Twenty years for writer who was hailed by President Obama as a hero facing persecution

By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent, The Independent/UK, September 1, 2009

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ISHARA S KODIKARA/ AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Journalist JS Tissainayagam leaves court yesterday after he was jailed for 20 years for causing ‘racial hatred’ and ’supporting terrorism’

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A Sri Lankan reporter, recently named by US President Barack Obama as an example of the way journalists are persecuted around the world, has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for writing articles critical of the government’s military operations.

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Tags: Human rights, jail sentence, Journalist JS Tissainayagam, Sri Lanka, Tamils