The alleged accusations and counter accusations made in the debate between S. B. Dissanayake and the President are extremely serious indeed. The two refrain from using all the ‘bullets’ at the same time and instead, use only one or two at a time.
When she addressed the Youth Conference recently she used a new type of ‘bullet’ against Mr. Dissanayake. She even disclosed that once he had supposedly offered to have two newspaper editors assassinated if necessary because they were critical of the government at a time it was weak and suggested that she become a dictator.
Although the President has said that she had rejected the idea of becoming a dictator, she has not stated what her response had been to the idea of assassinating one or two newspaper editors, and who they were.
This is not an allegation made by an ordinary person but a statement by the person holding the highest and the most powerful position in the land.
There is no previous instance on record in which a Cabinet Minister in a country where a democratic system prevailed had approached the head of state and discussed the necessity of assassinating several newspaper editors in the interests of the survival of the government.
Rejecting the President’s allegation, Mr. Dissanayake alleges that it was with Baddegana Sanjeewa that the President had discussed such matters as assassinating media persons.
It was during this bitter dispute that Baddegana Sanjeewa, who had been a prominent figure in the Presidential Security Division (PSD), was assassinated. It was Baddegana Sanjeewa who was found to be the main suspect behind the assassination of Rohana Kumara at the police inquiries into it. At the end, Baddegana Sanjeewa is said to have had to flee the country for his protection. It was also against Baddegana Sanjeewa that accusations were levelled in connection with the shooting at Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickramathunga.
For whatever reason, Baddegana Sanjeewa enjoyed political support and special protection necessary for a princely life. The three storeyed house he had been building near the Diyawanna Oya is visible from the second floor of the Parliament. It may be called a palatial residence.
The Low Lying Land Development Board had supposedly given him a 5 acre land on Pichchamal Road, Nawala.
Even at a modest assessment of Rs. 200,000 per perch, the value of that land would be Rs. 170 million. Although he was only a minor policeman in the PSD he is said to have used a number of vehicles of the type which Cabinet Ministers use.
His lady love is believed to be Vanessa, the former lady love of the assassinated Ruggerite Joel. According to some casino addicts Vanessa, who was very much addicted to the casino, needed a minimum of Rupees 100,000 per night. At the time that Sanjeewa was assassinated, too, he is said to have been on his way visiting Vanessa. The sum of Rupees 100,000 found in his vehicle might have been Vanessa’s requirement for that night.
One of the two newspaper editors allegedly hated by the leaders of the government was ‘Leader’ editor Lasantha Wickramathunga. I may have been the other. We are also the two leaders of the newspaper mafia allegedly referred to by Minister Mangala Samaraweera.
When the government media were surmising that the bomb attack by the LTTE aiming to assassinate the President was a result of a conspiracy in which a group in the south also participated, the names of Lasantha Wickramathunga and myself were also dragged in as two main participants of that conspiracy.
In the long interview the president had with the Rupavahini after the bomb attack, too, she mentioned our names and made accusations against us. In the period that followed, the PSD pursued us. There were a number of assassination attempts too. Something appearing like acid was used in an attack on the van in which I travelled. Ravaya office was attacked with smoke bombs.
Although the President’s statement did not mention any names, there can be no doubt that we were the two newspaper editors hated by the leaders of the government.
In the BBC programme ‘Hard Talk’ which may be considered part of a programme launched by a foreign firm at a cost of Rs. 120 million for the purpose of improving the President’s image, Tim Sebastian based his questions on the report published by the US State Department for the year 2001 about human rights in Sri Lanka. Tim Sebastian had to give the President a copy of that report when she said that she had not heard of it. Surprisingly, that report also included details about the assassination of Rohana Kumara and also about the death threats against the two newspaper editors who are supposed to be leaders of the so-called newspaper mafia. It is unlikely that the President was unaware of it.
That might have been the reason why the President, with an expression of disdain said, that she was unaware of such a report.
It may be considered an irony of fate that, at a time when a dialogue was to commence on a conversation at the President’s house about assassinating two newspaper editors, the President was subjected to hard questioning on the basis of a report containing that matter.