(COLOMBO) – A Labour Tribunal in Southern Sri Lanka has ordered the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) to pay compensation to a local journalist for the premature termination of his work contract.
The court in Kalutara, some 44 kilometers from the commercial capital of Colombo held that the premature termination of the job contract of Azzam Ameen was ‘unreasonable and unjustifiable’.
The Tribunal also found that the actions of the BBC, particularly of the BBC’s representative Iain Haddow, were arbitrary and high-handed.
The tribunal also ordered the British media house to pay compensation to the journalist which amounts to the equivalent of 10 months of the salary drawn by the journalist at the time of his termination of contract.
The ruling comes in connection to the case filed by Azzam Ameen on the BBC’s decision to terminate his contract over a leaked, distorted voice recording, alleged to have been a phone call with a local actor-turned politician Ranjan Ramanayake.
The BBC had taken action to terminate the contract of Azzam Ameen based on the press statements made by the ‘Sinhale Movement’ and Viyathmaga organization, which had questioned the integrity and independence of the media corporation.
Delivering the Order, the President of the Kalutara Labour Tribunal Alanka D. Anthony stated that the evidence placed before the Tribunal indicates that the journalist had an unblemished service record under the BBC for the last ten years, adding “The Applicant has been terminated without being afforded an opportunity to show cause for the misconduct alleged.”
