Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam is a respected Tamil journalist and editor who writes for the Northeastern Monthly Magazine and the Sunday Times in Sri Lanka. He is also the founder of the website Outreachsl.com, which focused on the Tamils minority in Sri Lanka. On 3 December 2008, Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was nominated for a media freedom award for defending the freedom of information by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) On 2 October 2009, Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was awarded the first Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism. His wife, Mrs. Ronnate Tissainayagam, accepted the award on his behalf because he was in prison then. On 7 March 2008, Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was arrested by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lankan Police in Colombo. The police eventually confirmed that they had detained him because they suspected him of being a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). On 8 March 2008, TID officers raided and searched Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam's home without a warrant. A copy of the Northeastern Monthly Magazine was seized. On 23 March 2008, sources close to the family of Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam revealed that there were several phone calls threatening his wife. The source suspected that the threats emanated from government agencies On 6 April 2008, Amnesty International (AI) issued a press statement claiming that Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam suffers from an eye condition that has required operations to re-attach his retinas. High levels of stress, or exposure to extreme levels of light, could cause a recurrence of the condition, which may result in blindness. It is not known whether he has received the required specialist medical treatment for his condition. On 9 May 2008 Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was granted access to an eye specialist. The specialist had said his condition required monitoring and that he needed new glasses. On 25 August 2008, Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was indicted for alleged violations of the PTA and was also charged with violating the 2006 Emergency Regulations with regard to allegations of aiding and abetting terrorist organizations through raising money for the magazine. It is noted that he is the first person who was charged under the PTA in the almost 30 years since it was adopted as a "temporary" measure. Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was denied bail on the ground that he has been charged under the PTA. On 9 September 2008, the Sri Lankan authorities dropped the charge against Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam of "bringing disrepute to the government" but retained other charges related to editing, printing and fundraising for the magazine. On 24 October 2008, the Free Media Movement (FMM) reported that a series of letters were received by human rights defenders and lawyers associated with the current trial of Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam. The letter reportedly warned any supporters of Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam or other defenders of human rights cases that they would be summarily killed or suffer life-threatening injuries. The source of the letter, "Mahason Balakaya" (Mahason Regiment) is an unknown group. In November 2008, Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam testified that he had a serious eye condition. An accident when he was 18 had caused a detached retina in both eyes and since then, he has only had 50 percent vision. Doctors had advised him that a blow to the head could make the condition recur. He said that officers of Sri Lanka's terrorist investigation division had threatened him saying he would be "beaten up like other detainees" and that he would go blind if the officers beat him. He also said he was threatened on a daily basis. On 5 December 2008, the High Court ruled that the confession made by Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam has been proven to be made voluntarily, despite the fact that he has told the court at the initial hearing that the confession was made under duress from the police. On 31 August 2009, Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was convicted by the Colombo High Court and sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for inciting communal violence and receiving money from the LTTE. On 11 January 2010, Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was granted bail by the Appeals Court. His lawyer said the court had ordered him to surrender his passport and pay $500 for bail. It is noted that Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam's sudden release comes in the run up to Sri Lanka's Presidential elections in which President Mahinda Rajapaksa is pitted against his former army chief, General Sarath Fonseka. Tamil votes may play a deciding factor in the elections. On 13 January 2010 Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam left prison.