{"id":81753,"date":"2023-04-22T01:11:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T05:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=81753"},"modified":"2023-04-22T20:29:27","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T00:29:27","slug":"please-abandon-the-current-anti-terrorism-act-draft-bill-and-draft-a-new-acceptable-anti-terrorism-law-that-could-be-passed-unanimously-by-parliament-a-journalist-appeals-to-president-ranil-wickrem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=81753","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Please Abandon the  Current  Anti-Terrorism Act Draft Bill and draft a new Acceptable Anti-terrorism law that could be Passed Unanimously by Parliament&#8221;; a Journalist appeals to President Ranil Wickremesinghe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fdbsjeyaraj.com%2Fdbsj%2F%3Fp%3D81753&#038;width=450&#038;layout&#038;action&#038;size&#038;share=true&#038;height=35&#038;appId\" width=\"450\" height=\"35\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>(Full Text of an Open Appeal to Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe by Journalist D.B.S. Jeyaraj)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>President Ranil Wickremesinghe<br \/>\n19 April 2023 <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/C02A33BF-DFA0-413D-B249-D6F00BC24F7B.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"328\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-81758\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/C02A33BF-DFA0-413D-B249-D6F00BC24F7B.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/C02A33BF-DFA0-413D-B249-D6F00BC24F7B-300x205.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dear President Wickremesinghe<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I write to you in my professional capacity as a journalist writing on Sri Lankan affairs for newspapers published in Sri Lanka about an issue of deep concern to all members of the fourth estate in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) draft bill that is to be presented by your Government  in  Parliament on 25 April 2023  has been widely criticized over many of its provisions.<br \/>\nThese critics range from the International Commission of Jurists(ICJ) that released a public statement  to a group of more than 450 eminent Sri Lankan citizens, organizations and trade unions  who signed a a public petition.<\/p>\n<p> There have also been many  statements and media communiques by several reputed organizations and institutions in Sri Lanka and abroad pinpointing the multiple negative features in the proposed ATA. In addition, many newspapers have published critical articles and editorials. <\/p>\n<p>I do not intend to outline all the criticisms against the AT bill  here as they have been well publicized in the media.  However I do subscribe to the legitimate criticism levelled against this bill by responsible sections of Sri Lankan society. <\/p>\n<p>What is of particular concern to me are the provisions relating to the media. The ATA if passed in its present form will drastically affect and restrict the freedom of expression in general and the day to day functioning of journalists in particular. The ATA will be a Sri Lankan version of the sword of Damocles  that would hang over the desks of journalists.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>As a journalist who was compelled to leave the land of my birth due to victimisation by the state for my reporting and political commentary, I am fully aware and extremely sensitive about the ramifications of  this issue. I know from experience that  Sri Lankan Police officials are capable of misinterpreting the writings of journalists adversely in order to please whichever Government is in power. As suchI  am  fearful  that if the ATA is passed and implemented, it may very well ring the death knell for free and fair journalism in the country.<\/p>\n<p>President Wickremesinghe, I also wish to point out that you have in recent times earned the respect  of many by your praiseworthy leadership in rescuing Sri Lanka out of its economic crisis and enabling the country to  progress  on the road to economic recovery. Please do not spoil that  by attempting to push through this horrible piece of legislation.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore as a political leader with much experience, you cannot but help notice that the ATA bill issue is uniting disparate forces in Sri Lanka against you and your Govt. <\/p>\n<p>Your positive achievements are being drowned in these rising waters of negative public opinion. Sadly the potential you possess to lift Lanka out of the economic morass it has sunk into could be seriously undermined. That would indeed be a tragedy!<\/p>\n<p>As such I conclude by appealing to you to urgently review matters and abandon  the idea of presenting  the Anti-Terrorism Act draft bill in Parliament. <\/p>\n<p>Please consult all shades of legitimate opinion and draft a new   broadly acceptable anti-terrorism law that could be passed unanimously by Parliament.<\/p>\n<p><strong>God Bless Sri Lanka!<\/p>\n<p><em>Thank You<\/p>\n<p>D,B.S.Jeyaraj<br \/>\n19 April 2023<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>*********************************************8888<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"tweetbutton81753\" class=\"tw_button\" style=\"float:right;margin-left:10px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdbsjeyaraj.com%2Fdbsj%2F%3Fp%3D81753&amp;text=%26%238220%3BPlease%20Abandon%20the%20%20Current%20%20Anti-Terrorism%20Act%20Draft%20Bill%20and%20draft%20a%20new%20Acceptable%20Anti-terrorism...%20&amp;related=&amp;lang=en&amp;count=horizontal\" class=\"twitter-share-button\"  style=\"width:55px;height:22px;background:transparent url('https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-tweet-button\/tweetn.png') no-repeat  0 0;text-align:left;text-indent:-9999px;display:block;\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Full Text of an Open Appeal to Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe by Journalist D.B.S. Jeyaraj) President Ranil Wickremesinghe 19 April 2023 Dear President Wickremesinghe I write to you in my professional capacity as a journalist writing on Sri Lankan affairs for newspapers published in Sri Lanka about an issue of deep concern to all &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=81753\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;&#8220;Please Abandon the  Current  Anti-Terrorism Act Draft Bill and draft a new Acceptable Anti-terrorism law that could be Passed Unanimously by Parliament&#8221;; a Journalist appeals to President Ranil Wickremesinghe&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81753"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81753"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81761,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81753\/revisions\/81761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}