US welcomes Tissa’s pardon

4 May 2010 10:00 am

The United States has welcomed the decision by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to pardon convicted journalist J. S. Tissainayagam.  The US Embassy in Colombo said that it is fitting that the announcement came on World Press Freedom Day, which celebrates the vital role a free media plays in every democracy. 

Tissainayagam was earlier convicted on three counts including editing, printing and distributing the publication North Eastern Monthly magazine during the period between June 1, 2006 and June 1, 2007. He was arrested in March 2008 and released on bail in January this year.