Andrew Pelling consults lawyers over Sri Lankan jibe (From Croydon Guardian)

Andrew Pelling consults lawyers over Sri Lankan jibe

3:40pm Wednesday 5th November 2008 in

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Croydon MP Andrew Pelling is planning legal action against a website after it posted disparaging remarks about his personal life and weight.

Mr Pelling, who admitted to the Croydon Guardian he suffered bulimia after having a nervous breakdown, was a target of a vitriolic attack from an official Sri Lankan website.

In an article titled “The moral inadequacies of enemies of the Sri Lankan state”, Mr Pelling is lambasted for his appearance by Professor Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process in Sri Lanka.

Prof Wijesinha accuses Mr Pelling of being one of “the usual suspects from the British Parliament who have made a name for themselves as defenders of the Tamil cause.”

He wrote: “Whether realising or not that their antics further the agenda of armed resistance to a lawfully elected government.”

He went on to write about Mr Pelling’s arrest last year over accusation of assaulting his estranged wife Lucy and accused him of falling into “terrorists clutches”.

Mr Pelling said he was consulting top London libel lawyers over the postings on the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva website.

Mr Pelling said: “I do not understand how I can be attacked as a British Member of Parliament for urging an end to conflict. In Croydon, Singhalese, Tamils and indeed all tolerant Croydonians, understand that ill-judged remarks about a politician’s weight, sexuality or other vicious attacks will do nothing to advance the cause of peace in Sri Lanka.

“I am surprised that the Sri Lankan government has allowed itself, through the Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process, to employ such intemperate language which runs counter to their supposed responsibility for peace.

“We know that Sri Lanka is a war-torn country, living daily with the legacy of death, disappearance, human rights abuse, and human misery; and with the fear of more to come for countless refugees.

“The suggestion that by attending a very balanced exhibition in Parliament about the atrocities that have fallen upon that beleaguered isle I was cavorting with terrorists is ridiculous.”

• To read our original interview click here.