The Colombo High Court today (31) sentenced journalist J.Tssainayagam to 20 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

1) J. Tissanayagam was found guilty on 3 charged of - 1) Attempting to cause the commission of acts of violence or racial or communal disharmony with clear intentions of causing disrepute to the government, an act of conspiracy.

2) Attempting to cause the commission of acts of violence or racial or communal disharmony relating to articles he published in the North Eastern Monthly magazine in 2006 and 2007, and

3) Collecting and obtaining information for the purpose of terrorism and raising funds for the purpose of terrorism through the collection of funds for the said magazine. He was consecutively proved guilt on all charges and given successive sentences of 5, 5 and 10 years rigorous imprisonment, respectively on each charge.

The prosecution showed that Tissanayagam had strong links with the LTTE and supported it through his actions, for which he was indicted.