Sri Lanka

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is an FMM press release: Attack on Freedom of Expression and Association On Thursday 2 October 2002, an organised gang of governing party supporters attacked a peaceful pretest against illegal timber felling and attacked the journalists covering the event. The attackers seized a number of cameras during the incident, which occurred […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 12 September 2002, RSF called on the Sri Lankan government to swiftly investigate and punish those responsible for the harassment of journalist Nishanta Kumara. “The new government has substantially improved the press freedom situation, with fewer physical attacks on journalists and the abolition of the law on criminal defamation,” said RSF Secretary-General […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 28 August 2002 FMM letter to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillei Prabhakaran: Mr. Velupillei Prabhakaran, Leader, The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Fax: 021 3781 28.08.2002 Dear Sir, Attack on the Thinakkathir Newspaper Office The Free Media Movement (FMM) wishes to highlight the recent attack on […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 12 August 2002 FMM press release: Free Media Movement (FMM) strongly condemns the violent attack on Thinakkathir newspaper, which took place on the night of 8 August. Thinakkathir is a Tamil-language provincial newspaper based in the eastern city of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Tamil is the language of the largest […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 26 June 2002 RSF press release: Damocles Network ­ Reporters Without Borders fact-finding mission notes encouraging progress in the investigation into the assassination of journalist Nimalarajan More than 20 months after journalist Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan was killed in his home in Jaffna (northern Sri Lanka), a fact-finding mission from the […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is an FMM press release: Civil unrest threatens journalists’ freedom to report FMM notes with concern that journalists in Sri Lanka increasingly face direct and indirect threats while reporting on civil unrest, clashes and political violence in recent times. Last week, two such incidents were reported from Kurunegala and Trincomalee districts. […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 26 June 2002 FMM press release: Provincial journalist threatened A.J.A. Abeynayaka, a provincial journalist connected to the Sinhala language daily Divaina, has been receiving threats since reporting on the court proceedings of a torture case. Recently he reported on the case of eighteen-year-old Lalith Rajapakse, who was badly tortured […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is an FMM press release: The Free Media Movement warmly congratulates the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lankan parliament, who unanimously passed an act of parliament on June 18, 2002, that repealed criminal defamation laws from the statute books. This is the first major legislation in over […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 24 April 2002 FMM press release: The Free Media Movement warmly welcomes the decision by the Cabinet Ministers to approve legislation to abolish the criminal defamation laws from the statute books. The government spokesman announcing the granting of approval for the draft law said the law would be tabled […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Sri Lankan President Chandra Kumaratunga, RSF expressed its concern over threats against Sarah Cithara, a correspondent in Attala (north of Colombo) for the English-language newspaper “Daily Mirror” and the Singhalese daily “Lankadeepa”, and his family. “In the current context, as peace negotiations continue, it is essential that the police […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is an 8 February 2002 CPJ press release: New York, February 8, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday’s decision by a Colombo High Court judge to sentence two Air Forces officers to nine years in prison for their role in a nighttime raid on the home of Iqbal Athas, […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Sri Lankan Interior Minister John Amaratunga, RSF expressed its indignation further to the assassination attempt on Dharmaratnam Sivaram, editor of the Tamilnet news website. RSF asked that the minister do everything in his power to identify and punish the authors of this cowardly attack. “Whereas the option of a […]

(FMM/IFEX) – The following is an FMM press release: Discussion with president to kill two editors in order to save the government The Free Media Movement, which has held the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga responsible for the murder, assault and intimidation of journalists in the past seven years, has been vindicated by a statement […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to President and Media Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga, RSF expressed its deep concern about the intimidation against the daily “Divaina” by Mervyn Silva, Colombo organiser for the ruling People’s Alliance coalition. “Considering that the electoral campaign has just begun, such threats are not promising,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said. “It would […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to President and Media Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga, RSF expressed its deep concern about the intimidation against the daily “Divaina” by Mervyn Silva, Colombo organiser for the ruling People’s Alliance coalition. “Considering that the electoral campaign has just begun, such threats are not promising,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said. “It would […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is an 18 October 2001 CPJ letter to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga: October 18, 2001 Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga President, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Presidential Secretariat Colombo-1, Sri Lanka Via facsimile: +94-1-333-703 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed that one year […]