Friday, July 30, 2010
Parameswaran Subramanyam
Parameswaran Subramanyam, a Tamil refugee in the United Kingdom who went 23 days without eating, received nearly £80,000 ($125,000) and a public apology from two British tabloids that accused him of eating McDonald’s hamburgers during his protest.
The Daily Mail was the first to falsely report in October 2009 that a Metropolitan police surveillance team had captured footage of Subramanyam eating burgers while carrying out his hunger strike in Westminster. The Sun then followed with its own story under the headline: “Hunger Striker Was Lovin’ It.”
The stories caused the 29-year-old much embarrassment and even hatred among his countrymen. British police said publicly there was no video evidence of Subramanyam eating because there had been no police surveillance team watching him.
The refugee, who was trying to draw attention to the plight his people as the civil war in Sri Lanka wound down, ended his hunger strike after the British foreign secretary wrote him a letter stating the government was working hard to bring about a ceasefire on the island. Subramanyam then spent five days recovering in hospital.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Daily Mail and Sun Pay Out to Tamil Hunger Striker (by Sam Jones, Guardian)
Parameswaran Subramanyam Apology (The Sun)
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