Award winning writer refuses to apologize to the mob and faces prison time. Donate & help support freedom of expression in Sri Lanka.
Dear Friends,
I am writing to you from Colombo, Sri Lanka, on behalf of my friend, Shakthika Sathkumara, who is currently facing the possibility of 10 years of prison time for writing a fictional short story. The short story was posted on his Facebook page at which point a group of “offended” monks reported him to the police. He, in return, filed a fundamental rights case against the parties responsible, including the police officers who arrested him. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right as guaranteed under Articles 10, , 12(1), 13(1), 13(2) & 14(1)(a), of the constitution of Sri Lanka.
The most important fact of this entire story : He refused to apologize to the mob. The parties that brought up the case against him have agreed to drop the charges if he issues a public apology for his short story. He refused to do so as he believes, rightly, that he has done nothing wrong, and spent 130 days in prison for his bravery and is now out on bail. I believe this man to be unbelievably brave and he deserves our support. Let’s help this man pick up his cross and carry it, for the sake of his wife, 2 young children and the rest of Sri Lanka.
I’m not going to go over all the details about the story. You can find a short review of the story he wrote by a local news paper columnist here (as I don’t believe there is an English translation available)
Information on the entire case, media coverage, writer’s resume and other details can be found at the links below.
List of news paper articles, websites and other media coverage.
Popular cartoons created by artists about this case.
Legal costs thus far (in Sri Lankan rupees)
I am trying to raise money to support his family and help him with his legal fees. The goal is $5000. He was fired from his job and is currently unemployed and continues to be unemployable as people don’t want anything to do with him. Even 1$ goes a long way in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately setting up a gofundme is being tricky since they require a bank account from certain countries (UK, US, Europe etc). Therefore, a direct transfer is the only option right now.
Shakthika’s bank details are as follows:
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Account Holder’s name (as mentioned in bank account): D.S.S. Sathkumara
Full name of account holder (this will not be usually required) : Delankage Sameera Shakthika Sathkumara Name of the Bank: Sampath Bank
Account Number: 104453014024
Swift code: BSAMLKLX
Bank (Branch) Address: Nawinna Office and Shopping Complex, Kalugamuwa Road, Wariyapola, Sri Lanka Branch code: 044
Bank (Head office) address: Sampath Bank PLC, No 110, Sir James Peiris Mawatha, Colombo 02, Sri Lanka
