(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 1 November 2005 FMM press release: Two journalists brutally assaulted by a group that included an Army major Free Media Movement condemns the brutal assault of two journalists by a group of people, including an Army major, while the journalists were reporting on the killing of Lieutenant Colonel T. […]
(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 1 November 2005 FMM press release:
Two journalists brutally assaulted by a group that included an Army major
Free Media Movement condemns the brutal assault of two journalists by a group of people, including an Army major, while the journalists were reporting on the killing of Lieutenant Colonel T. Meedin. The assault took place at the residence of the late Colonel on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 1.
Journalist Rani Mohamed and photographer Berty Mendis were on an assignment to obtain interviews regarding the killing.
According to Mrs. Rani Mohamed, the journalists were assaulted by a group of people, including an Army major who is a brother of the late Colonel. During the assault, the attackers seized Rani Mohamed’s mobile phone and Berty Mendis’s camera.
Both journalists have filed a complaint regarding the incident to the Kiribathgoda police station. Both the camera and mobile phone were subsequently returned to the journalists by the police at the station. However, the roll of film inside the camera was exposed to the light and made useless.
Rani Mohamed is an award-winning journalist who has won the Editors’ Guild Award for Human Interest stories for five consecutive years. Photographer Berty Medis (aged 70) has nearly 50 years of experience in photography.
FMM has consistently appealed to all political and other power groups, such as the military, not to harass journalists in any way. Such harassment is an attack on freedom of expression as well as the journalists’ human rights.
FMM requests that both the Inspector General of Police and the Military commander initiate an immediate impartial inquiry into the assault and bring the suspects to book.
Sunanda Deshapriya
Spokesperson,
Free Media Movement
