An investigative journalist in Sri Lanka has been facing death threats after he made startling revelations about Sri Lanka’s purchase of Mig-27 fighter jets from Ukraine. Press freedom organisation have urged European and US embassies to do their utmost to protect Iqbal Athas of the Sunday Times, after receiving an email from the journalist in which he said he feared for his life and had gone into hiding for fear of a murderous attack.
"President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, will be held personally responsible by the journalist community for anything that happens to Iqbal Athas and his colleagues on the press group that publishes the 'Sunday Times' and 'Lankadeepa'," Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said.
"This senior defence specialist has been the victim of several previous attacks and death threats and now finds himself again the target of some members of the government and the army. The head of state should order the speedy restoration of Athas’s security and an investigation should be launched to identify those behind latest threats against him and some of his colleagues," it said. "The fact that the journalist has already stopped writing his defence column is already a setback for press freedom in Sri Lanka."
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said the threats were blatant attempts to silence the investigative journalist and discourage reporting on government affairs. "When the government links the security of journalists to their reporting of government affairs all journalists must worry about their security," IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.
As well as being editorial consultant of the Sunday Times, Athas contributes to Jane’s Defence Weekly and CNN. He was awarded the 1994 prize of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
On August 12, Athas wrote a detailed investigative report in his regular Sunday Times column about the Ukrainian government’s own inquiry into the arms deal, according to CPJ. The headline read: “MiGs loaded with millions in mega frauds; The Sunday Times investigation reveals shocking double-deals and wheeler-dealings; While Lanka remains hush-hush, Ukraine Govt orders full probe.”
The Sinhala-language newspaper Lankadeepa published a translated version of the article on August 14. The next day, on August 15, the personal security detail attached to Athas was abruptly withdrawn. The government had provided Athas with a security detail since April 2005, when it received credible intelligence reports that he may be targeted by members of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
On August 18, at around 9:20 p.m., the police guard stationed outside his home also was withdrawn without prior notice, CPJ reported. A police guard had been posted outside Athas’ home, in the Nugegoda suburb of the capital, Colombo, since February 1998, when Sri Lankan Air Force personnel forcibly entered his home and threatened him and his daughter, then 7, at gunpoint. That attack came in retaliation for a series of investigative reports he wrote for the Sunday Times about corrupt weapons procurement practices.
Despite the current fears for his safety, Athas published a follow-up article on the MiG deal, based on extensive independent reporting, on August 19.
Over the next days, Athas received warnings from several sources that his home may be raided by government agents, according to CPJ. He says he has been followed repeatedly by unidentified people, and he suspects there may be an attempt to abduct him and question him about his reporting on the MiG deal.
On Monday, more than 50 people staged a demonstration outside Athas’ home, accusing him of threatening national security. A provincial politician belonging to the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party, identified as Upali Kodikara, was seen at the demonstration and is believed to have been among the organisers.
The same day, a man claiming to be a retired Air Force officer walked into the offices of Wijeya Newspapers Ltd, publisher of the Sunday Times and Lankadeepa, and warned a staff member not to translate Athas’ articles into Sinhala. The man said the translator would face serious consequences if he ignored the warning, according to journalists present at the scene. The visitor also said that if Athas did not stop reporting and leave the country, he may share the fate of Tamil journalists killed by unknown gunmen.
Athas knew well the dangers he might face for reporting on these issues, but proceeded because of his concerns that such dealings could undermine Sri Lanka’s security, according to CPJ. “Those dabbling in millions of dollars or billions of rupees in military procurements [tend to] get away in this paradise isle,” Athas wrote in his August 12 column. “The only casualties are those exposing them. They continue to become prime targets and many an embarrassed official want to hound them out. Little wonder, to some, war is big business.”
