Alleged assault on journalist: Air Force statements recorded by police

Police have recorded statements from six Air Force personnel for allegedly assaulting journalist K P Mohan of the Tamil daily, Thinakkural, in Fort on Thursday.

The journalist was allegedly assaulted by several airmen on duty at Lotus Road on Thursday while he was on his way to the Presidential Secretariat to cover a meeting between President Rajapaksa and the Maha Sangha.

This assault followed a similar incident on Wednesday, when Mr.Mohan was allegedly harassed by Air Force personnel at Galle Face.

According to Mr.Mohan, he had been walking to the Presidential Secretariat when he had been stopped at an Air Force checkpoint near Sambuddahloka Viharaya by an airman who had shouted at him for crossing the road.

On Thursday, the road had reportedly been closed to regular traffic as a VIP motorcade was scheduled to pass that way. The Airmen had asked for the journalist’s identity card and on seeing it and realizing that he was the person who had been stopped near Galle Face the day before, had reportedly used abusive language and later beaten him. The Air Force is conducting a separate investigation over the alleged assault.

Meanwhile, the Free Media Movement (FMM) is to meet Information Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa to discuss about the validity of the media accreditation card after there have been several reported cases of journalists being inconvenienced when they produced the card to security forces.

The FMM is also to call for a meeting of journalists to discuss how to avoid such incidents in future.