Sri Lanka

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is an 18 October 2006 joint statement by FMM and several other organisations: THE WELIGAMA DECLARATION 2006 THE ROLE OF MEDIA FOR NATIONAL UNITY Preamble: We, the journalists, editors, news directors, and other media practitioners of the Sri Lankan mass media, along with media scholars and other concerned activists, gathered in […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ media release: IFJ denounces bombing of Voice of Tigers in Sri Lanka The International Federation of Journalists has condemned the bombing of the official radio station of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Voice of Tigers (VOT), by the Sri Lankan Air Force in Killinochch, an […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Le 19 octobre 2000, le journaliste tamoul Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan était assassiné à son domicile de Jaffna (nord du pays). Six ans après les faits, la police et certains juges ont délibérément saboté puis bloqué la procédure judiciaire qui mettait en cause des membres du parti tamoul gouvernemental EPDP. A ce jour, Reporters sans […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Police and some judges deliberately sabotaged and then blocked judicial steps against members of the pro-government EPDP party implicated in the murder in 2000 of Tamil journalist Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan at his home in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka, said Reporters Without Borders. The result has been that six years after the death of the […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 14 October 2006 joint statement by five Sri Lankan human rights groups, including FMM: Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU) Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF) Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists Alliance (SLTJA) Free Media Movement (FMM) Removal of “Sunday Observer” Editor We, […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an 11 October 2006 IFJ media release: Mission Statement International Fact-Finding and Advocacy Mission to Sri Lanka From 9 to 11 October 2006, a high-level five member delegation representing the International Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression Mission (also referred to as the International Mission), which is comprised of international […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 2 October 2006 FMM press release: Journalist Sampath Lakmal’s killers at large – Police investigations fail to produce any suspects Journalist Sampath Lakmal was killed three months ago, on 1 July 2006. The Free Media Movement (FMM) expresses its disappointment that, even after three months, on-going police investigations have […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is an FMM press release: Defense Ministry imposes unofficial censorship In a letter (dated 20.09.2006) sent to media institutions, the Ministry of Defense, Public Security, Law and Order has indirectly requested that all news related to national security be submitted to the Media Centre for National Security before publication, telecast or […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a joint statement by FMM, the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA), the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF), and the Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists Alliance (SLTJA): Reporting the escalation of violence: A request to Journalists The escalation of violence in the […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 20 September 2006 FMM press release: SC judgment on ICCPR regrettable FMM registers its alarm and dismay at the recent judgment of the Supreme Court in the Nallaratanam Singarasa case. In this case, the petitioner sought to have his conviction, based upon a confession, reviewed / revised by the […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 10 September 2006 FMM press release: Another television drama banned The government-controlled Sri Lanka Rupavahini Cooperation (SLRC) has stopped broadcasting the television drama “Sudu Kapuru Pethi”, without any official justification, after its tenth episode last week. This censorship marks another blow to freedom of expression and highlights the negative […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: SRI LANKA: Tamil newspaper pleads for protection from attacks New York, September 8, 2006 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Sri Lankan authorities to fulfill their duty to protect the staff of the pro-Tamil Jaffna newspaper Uthayan, which was threatened and coerced on Thursday. […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is an FMM press release: Armed group threatened Udayan newspaper in Jaffna Around 7:45 pm on 7th September 2006, six armed persons entered the Udayan newspaper office in Jaffna, threatened the staff and handed over a statement to be published in the newspaper, the managing director of the newspaper group told […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Thavarajah Thavamni, a Tamil employee of Maharaja Television (MTV), was released during the evening of 1 September 2006, more than 15 hours after she was kidnapped in Colombo. Her abductors are said to have been military intelligence officers who wanted to interrogate her about what she did when she was working for the […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has voiced deep concern about the 1 September 2006 abduction in Colombo of Thavarajah Thavamni, a young Tamil woman employed by Maharaja Television (MTV). The motives for the kidnapping are not yet known but her uncle, opposition parliamentarian T. Maheswaran, told Reporters Without Borders it could be linked to her […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders voiced relief on learning that Nadarajah Guruparan, the news director of the Colombo-based Tamil radio station Sooriyan, was freed early on 30 August 2006 after being held for 20 hours by his kidnappers, who told him he had been abducted “for a purpose”. Guruparan was released six kilometers from the […]