Former Chief Executive Officer of Rivira Media Corporation Krishantha Prasad Cooray, today, in an interview revealed that former Editor in Chief of Rivira Upali Tennakoon and former Associate Editor of The Nation Keith Noyahr were attacked by unidentified groups subsequent to the previous government's unsuccessful attempts to take over the two newspapers.

Cooray also added that he and Lalith Allahakkoon, former Editor in Chief of 'The Nation' were also under close surveillance following the attacks. After Tennakoon and Noyahr went into exile and Cooray stepped down from his position as the CEO due to severe pressure, the operations of the two newspapers were completely taken over by two businessmen who were supportive of former President Rajapaksa. The Nation Editor Allahakkoon too was forced to leave by the management.

"I got involved in the media because a public quoted company started a media outfit that was to be fully independent. We really tried to build something at that publishing house. We managed to hire the country’s top journalists and media professionals. People worked with passion and there was a sense of freedom I think that we fostered and encouraged in a way that no other media outfit had in the past.
But obviously, it was the height of the war and our reporting was not to the President’s satisfaction. He used his power and proxies to try to get people to buy the newspaper at first. When those attempts failed, terrible things began to happen," Cooray, who is now a stalwart in the United National Party, said.

“They abducted and brutally assaulted our Deputy Editor Keith Noyahr. It was with the greatest of difficulty and intense lobbying by all kinds of people and agencies that he was returned to us a few hours later. I believe that if not for the pressure, we would have lost Keith that night. I don’t think they ever meant for him to survive,” the former CEO said in an interview with Daily FT today. Noyahr's assault came just a few days after a controversial article he wrote on the conduct of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, who was then leading the Army.

“Then Rivira Editor Upali Tennakoon was attacked in broad daylight in his car. Nation Editor Lalith Allahakoon was forced and intimidated into resigning after a Presidential loyalist purchased the newspaper. He was sent to Pakistan against his will and then brought back in five days. It was a pathetic and lowdown thing to do to someone. Lalith’s children did not even have a school when they returned to Colombo,” he added.

“I think perhaps because of the role we all played to get Keith Noyahr released, they started to hound me. They accused me of being behind the attack on the Sirasa studios. Some politicians used Parliamentary privilege to launch lowdown attacks on my reputation. Then the Government also began to suspect that I had a role in Karu Jayasuriya’s re-entry into the UNP as Deputy Leader,” Cooray said.

“When things got really bad, my dear friend Lasantha Wickrematunge virtually forced me to leave the country if I wanted to stay alive. The day after my departure he was killed. The threats against me were so severe that I could not even return for his funeral. I still live with the regret of that,” He said in the interview with the financial newspaper.