US scribe working on Sterlite issue goes back home, to be blacklisted

New Delhi, Jan 3: A US-based freelance journalist left the country, a day after authorities here ordered his deportation for working on the Sterlite issue in violation of his tourist visa conditions, an official said.

Mark Scialla, who arrived here on December 27 last, boarded a flight to the US from Hyderabad Wednesday morning, Tuticorin district Superintendent of Police Murali Rambha, who issued the deporation order in his capacity as the district Foreigners Registration Officer, said.

The official also said steps had been initiated to blacklist the journalist and a communication was being sent to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in Chennai in view of "violation" of the visa conditions by him.

After arriving in the country on a tourist visa, Scialla had interviewed several people here on December 28 and 29 on alleged health issues faced by them due to the now closed Sterlite copper plant.

Rambha said the visa clearly stated that the American national should not embark on any work except tourist activities.

"Yet he violated it. He did not come here for tourism purposes... I am just sending the recommendation (for blacklisting) to the FRRO," Rambha told PTI.

After a thorough enquiry, it was concluded that Scialla had violated the visa norm and he was served a notice Tuesday to leave the country immediately, the SP said.

The officer said questioning of some local activists in connection with the journalist's Tamil Nadu visit would be concluded soon.

Once blacklisted, a foreigner's visa application will not be processed for a stipulated period of time, officials said.

The journalist, during his stay here had posed questions to local people on the "health issues" they faced before and after the closure of Sterlite's shut copper plant.

He had also met an injured person in the May 22-23 police firing after the protests against Sterlite over pollution concerns turned violent here. Thirteen people were killed in the firing.

When contacted, a US Consulate spokesperson here had said "We are aware of media reports concerning the American citizen. However, due to privacy laws, we do not comment on matters involving U S citizens."

According to Scialla twitter handle, he is an "independent writer and video journalist covering environmental conflict and social issues." After the violent protests, the state government had ordered the permanent closure of the Sterlite plant, part of the mining major Vedanta group.

On December 15, the National Green Tribunal set aside the closure order state government, saying it was "non sustainable" and "unjustified".