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Sivaram's phone still rings, but where?
By Chris Kamalendran
Police have ascertained the details of the phone calls made to and from slain journalist Dharmaretnam Sivaram's mobile phone to help investigations, but there was no breakthrough into who could have been responsible for his abduction and subsequent murder on April 28.

Colombo Crime Division Director SSP Sarath Lugoda said they were looking into the possibility whether someone had tipped off the assailants about the Mr. Sivaram's movements before the abduction as he had left home around 4.30 pm and had visited several places before arriving at the pub in Bambalapitiya around 7.00 pm.

"It is difficult to think that anyone could have been following him from the time he left home," SSP Lugoda said. More than a week after his death, Mr. Sivaram's phone still rings when dialled. SSP Lugoda said Police cannot track its location unless someone answered the phone. Police believe the mobile phone might be in the possession of those who killed Mr. Sivaram.

Meanwhile, Kusal Perera, the freelance journalist who was with Mr. Sivaram at the pub and witnessed the abduction denied accusations that he had run away instead of seeking police help. Mr. Perera said he did not do so as he doubted the Police ability to act fast and feared for his own safety and added that any human had a right to safeguard himself first in such instances.

"In a situation like this any human has the instinct and right to safeguard himself first. Even if I went to the Police Station they will question me as to who he is, what he was doing and various questions," he said. Mr. Perera also said that in recent times the Police, PSD and the MSD have been implicated in many abductions and killings and so he felt it would be better to go to the Police Station with a lawyer.

But soon after the incident he had informed several well-connected and close associates of Mr. Sivaram like parliamentarian Gajendra Kumar Ponnambalam, Ravaya editor Victor Ivan and free lance photographer Buddika Weerasinghe of what had happened. He had asked them to inform the relevant authorities. Mr. Perera also blamed the Editor's Guild of Sri Lanka for not implementing its own Code of Ethics by permitting the media to brand a fellow media personnel as a "traitor", "unpatriotic" or "Tiger" and for permitting incitement.

He said the Editors' Guild Code of Ethics adopted by the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) specifically states that "a journalist shall not knowingly or willfully promote communal or religious discord or violence", but added that this was being ignored by a section of the media.

He referred to the instance where JVP MP Wimal Weerawansa criticised Mr. Sivaram's writings. If the editors had gone through the copy and refrained from publishing such damaging allegations, what happened to Mr. Sivaram could have been avoided, Mr. Perera said.

A spokesman for The Editors' Guild said Kusal Perera probably was unaware that nowhere in the world does - or can - a Guild, as a body, tell individual editors how to treat individual copy.

"He is asking the Guild to act as Censor, which is neither their task nor intention. The Code is there as a common guideline to editors and journalists alike, for responsible reporting, and the Press Complaints Commission is the institution that inquires into complaints of Code violations" added the Guild spokesman.

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