‘Lankadeepa’ editor queried over news item

http://www.colombotoday.com/english/articles/NEWS/Lankadeepa-editor-queried-news-item/2961.htm
Chief editor of ‘Lankadeepa’ Siri Ranasinghe has been questioned by the CID in connection with the lead story of the newspaper in its June 16 issue which reported a presence of LTTE suicide cadres in Colombo.

A senior journalist working for the Sinhala daily said Mr. Ranasinghe had been interrogated over the news article under the heading “26 LTTE suicide cadres still in Colombo.”

According to this journalist, the CID has also visited the writer of the article, Srinath Prasanna Jayasuriya, at his home in Chilaw and questioned him as well.

Mr. Jayasuriya, who suffers from a kidney ailment, presently carries out his duties from home.

Yesterday, ColomboCrime Division officials questioned Chandana Sirimalwatte, editor of ‘Lanka’ newspaper in connection with its lead article which alleged houses build for soldiers by ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ Fund had been given for money

SRI LANKA Attacks on journalists slammed

http://www.ucanews.com/2009/06/15/attacks-on-journalists-slammed/

COLOMBO (UCAN) — Religious leaders, civic activists and journalists have expressed concern over attacks on media personnel reporting on violence and corruption in the country.

“Stop paramilitary attacks on journalists!” shouted activists during a June 10 protest in Colombo.

The event saw hundreds of people taking to the streets to highlight the plight of journalists reporting on civil-war issues and state and civil-level corruption. They demanded that the government protect the rights of media persons.

“We are afraid and tired of these continuing attacks,” said Nilantha Fernando, a Christian journalist. Protesters say the state government has failed to investigate the growing numbers of such incidents.

The protest followed an attack on Poddala Jayantha, a senior journalist and prominent media rights activist who was severely beaten on June 1. His attackers also shaved half of his beard and hair in an apparent attempt to humiliate him.

Jayantha is the general secretary of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association and a member of the Free Media Movement. His speeches and interviews have defended journalists who reported on violence and corruption in the country.

People suspect that the government is behind such attacks.

Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, editor of “Gnanarthapradeepaya,” (light of wisdom), the Catholic Sinhalese weekly of Colombo archdiocese, said the “government has a responsibility to investigate this incident and bring the culprits to book to ensure the rights of the media.”

He said those in government might find the media distasteful, but an independent media is vital to maintaining checks and balances in a free society.

Anglican Bishop Duleep de Chickera of Colombo also denounced the attack in a June 5 statement and asked for a “speedy and professional investigation” into the incident.

Buddhist monk Venerable Bellanwila Wimalaratana Thero, co-chairman of the Inter Religious Foundation, said the “government should take action to stop those threatening journalists.”

This is the second major attack on a journalist since January. Armed men killed Lasantha Wickrematunga, a leading journalist on Jan. 8.

A local media forum has reported that 14 journalists have been murdered within the past two decades, 12 of them in the past five years. Some journalists have been imprisoned by the government and many have left the country.

Local media say the attacks on journalists are an attempt by the state to silence the media. People have noted that nobody has yet been charged for these crimes.