Iqbal Athas

Iqbal Athas
Born	c. 1944
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Occupation	journalist
Organization	Sunday Times Jane's Defence Weekly CNN
Known for	reporting on armed forces
Awards	International Press Freedom Award (1994)

Iqbal Athas (born c. 1944) is a Sri Lankan journalist. He is a defence columnist for the Sunday Times, and he also contributes to Jane's Defence Weekly, CNN, and the Times of London. He was threatened for his investigative reporting which uncovered scandals in the purchase of the arms by Sri Lankan Defence personnel, particularly the Sri Lankan Airforce. He has won several international journalism awards for his work, and in 2000, the New York Times described him as "the country's leading military correspondent."

In 1997 and '98, Athas wrote a series of articles for the Sunday Times detailing the disappearance of 70,000 mortar shells purchased by the Sri Lankan government from Zimbabwe. The shells first appeared to have been hijacked by the rebel group Tamil Tigers, but experts later concluded the communique allegedly from the Tigers had been faked. For his reporting, Athas was "verbally and physically attacked by both Government officials and thugs".

In 1998, Athas wrote another series of articles on irregularities in aircraft purchases by the Air Force. That year, a group of armed men entered his home, threatened Athas's wife and seven-year-old daughter, and held an automatic pistol to Athas's head. The government then ordered protective security placed around Athas's home, which would remain until 2007.

In 2002, two Air Force officers were convicted of having participated in the attack, and were sentenced to nine years' imprisonment apiece. The judge stated, "'In a democratic country like Sri Lanka, newspapers have a right to expose the corruption of anyone. If crime is used to suppress it, then stern action should be taken." Athas praised the verdict, but also called for investigations into unsolved attacks on other journalists.

On 26 July 2005, President Chandrika Kumaratunga told a meeting of 1,000 military officials that she was considering charging Athas under the Official Secrets Act after Athas wrote a column describing the purchase of a British logistics landing craft as a waste of money. The law carried a maximum charge of fourteen years' imprisonment. The Committee to Protect Journalists protested the remark, stating, "We're appalled by these threatening remarks against our colleague Iqbal Athas who is being targeted for doing his job as a journalist by promoting debate on matters of public interest."

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