Journalist Tissainayagam files appeal against jail sentence

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 15:23 GMT]
Senior journalist S. Tissainayagam, through his lawyer, filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal Tuesday seeking to set aside the conviction and the sentence imposed on him by the Colombo High Court on August 31, 2009. Tissainayagam was convicted for blaming the Government of Sri Lanka, inciting racial hatred and for having monetary dealings with the LTTE, a terrorist organization prohibited by the State, according to the prosecution led by the Attorney General.

A sentence of five years rigorous imprisonment (RI) was imposed for the first count, a sentence of another five years RI for the second count and a sentence of 10 years RI for the third count.

Tissainayagam was indicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, for articles published in the North Eastern Herald in 2006. The articles were said to have brought disrepute to the State of Sri Lanka and invited racial hatred, according to the prosecution.

The trial against Tissainayagam was heard by Colombo High Court Judge, Deepali Wijesundara, who convicted Tissainayagam, imposing a sentence of 20 years RI.

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