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Journalists work in climate of fear say media groups

Media complain of stifling conditions, while reporters and medical students give their versions of assault incident
By Chathuri Dissanayake and Damith Wickramasekara, Pic by J.Weerasekara

Media organisations have come out strongly in condemnation of an attack last week by a group of medical students on two photographers and a video cameraman. The journalists, who were conducting random interviews relating to the marking of Advanced-level exam papers, were attacked by students in the vicinity of the Bloemfontein Men’s Hostel of the University of Colombo’s medical faculty, in Colombo 7.

The media groups, who have demanded a full police enquiry, say the government has created an atmosphere that puts journalists in jeopardy. Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association secretary Podddala Jayantha said the government should take responsibility for having created a volatile environment that was dangerous for the media to work in. “A culture where people assault any journalist with a camera or a notebook has been created in our society,” he said. “This is a serious situation, and the government is responsible for it.”

Colombo university medical students give their statements to the Cinnamon Gardens Police Station.

Mr. Jayantha said the country had reached a point where the public believed that journalists could be manhandled and assaulted and their equipment damaged or stolen and that nothing would be done about it.

“The government has worked towards establishing a Mervyn Silva-media culture in the country,” Mr. Jayantha said. “This is why medical students assaulted journalists who were collecting material for a current news matter.”

According to Jatila Wellabada, secretary of the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka, incidents of this kind occurred because of apathy on the part of the authorities in cases relating to violence towards media people. He said that such indifference even suggested that the harassment of journalists would be condoned. “They make the best use of the journalists, and then attack them. This is a regrettable situation,” he said.

Mr. Wellabada called on politicians and responsible citizens to take action against harassment of the media, pointing out that freedom of expression reflected a free society. “Media freedom is strong evidence of democracy and a free society. No one here understands what a free media really is,” he said.

Sri Lanka Photojournalists Association president SriLal Gomes said the state had a responsibility to reassure the people that incidents of this kind would not recur. “First, politicians started assaulting journalists, and now civilians are following their bad example. This should not be allowed to happen. We are asking the government to conduct an independent inquiry and punish the wrongdoers. We are waiting for the state to take action,” he said.

Media organisations are threatening union action if the government failed to take action. “If the police do not take action, we will take action against the police,” Mr. Jayantha said. The assault on three journalists, representing the Lankadeepa daily newspaper and Sirasa TV, occurred on Thursday. Reporters Yamuna Gallearachchi and Janaka Gallappaththi were interviewing members of the public about the ongoing marking of A-Level exam papers.

According to Ms. Gallearachchi, the incident occurred just after the reporters had finished interviewing two students and a family in the vicinity of Carey College, and had stopped to talk to a medical student who was on his way to the medical faculty hostel. The medical student, Nadun Kiribathgoda of Kolonnawa, had agreed to be interviewed.

Photojournalist Ms. Gallappaththi said she had asked the student to turn in the direction of the medical faculty hostel for a photograph, saying she needed to angle her camera away from the glare of the sun. When the reporters were about to leave, they were approached by a young man, dressed in shorts and a shirt, who demanded to know with whose permission they had taken the photographs.

“We were on the road, and none of the photographs we took showed any building in the background. Janaka [Gallappaththi] presented his media ID and explained that the student had given his permission for the photograph. The picture we took did not include the hostel. Janaka further explained that only the student’s profile would appear in the published photo, without any background structures showing,” Ms. Gallearachchi said.

The man in shorts, later identified by the university as a security guard, then attempted to seize the camera from Mr. Galappaththi, at which point Mr. Galappaththi backed away. As he was moving away, he took a snapshot of the man in shorts for reference.

“Janaka then fell, and the man tried to grab the camera, and then others came and started to beat Janaka,” Ms. Gallearachchi said. “They then went back into the university premises, taking with them the camera equipment. We stopped outside the gate of the hostel and asked for the camera. In the meantime, we called the Sirisa office, and we also called 119. The police came on the scene some time later.”

According to Ms. Gallearachchi, a group of medical students emerged from the hostel and surrounded Mr. Galappaththi and started assaulting him. Meanwhile, other students started to threaten and hurl abuse at Ms. Gallage.

“All the while, we remained outside the university premises. When the police arrived, they put us inside their jeep,” Ms. Gallearachchi said.

Lankadeepa’s Shantha Rathnayake, the other photojournalist, said that when he arrived on the scene he saw both Mr. Galappatti and Ms. Gallearachchi standing on the road and being harassed by students.

“I saw the Sirasa cameraman recording the incident. I quickly took a few photographs, put my camera away inside my vehicle, and ran to help the Sirasa journalist who was being attacked by a crowd of about 50 students. I couldn’t do anything. They dragged him into the hostel premises and continued to attack him.”

Lankadeepa’s Mr. Rathnayake said the police arrived before the students could turn on him, but found his camera equipment missing when he returned to the van. Dushantha Manoj, another Sirasa TV employee, said that when he arrived on the scene, he saw Mr. Galappatti being attacked.

“I immediately started to record the incident. The students then came up to me and grabbed my camera. I showed them my ID and told them I had come to help my friend. They seized my ID and hit me. Some police officers were looking on as I was dragged into the hostel grounds and beaten up. Shortly after, police officers intervened and put me into their jeep.”

The medical students, on the other hand, have a different story to tell. According to Medical Faculty Students’ Union president Kasun Weerakkody, the Lankadeepa journalists had forced their way into the hostel premises, and refused to produce any kind of identification. “The photojournalist would not identify himself, and acted aggressively towards our sub-warden, who was only doing his duty. We got involved in order to defuse a tense situation,” he said.

He added that the Sirasa TV journalist had attempted to film the university premises without permission.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, the University of Colombo vice-chancellor, Shanika Hirimburegama, said she would decide on what action to take once she had received the police report on the incident.
She added the university required permission through the proper channels for photographs to be taken of the university. “We are in high security zone,” she explained.

Police spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekara told the newspaper that the police had already submitted a report on the incident to courts.

“All parties involved have been ordered to appear in court on October 10. Meanwhile, we are continuing our police investigations,” he said.

They are supposed to heal, not wound: Publishers

The Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka issued a statement condemning the assault on three journalists by students of the Medical Faculty last week.

‘It is with a sense of regret and even greater concern, that the Newspaper Society unreservedly condemns the meaningless assault on Lankadeepa Journalists Gallappaththi and Gallearachchi, and Sirasa correspondent Manoj Dushantha. This violence was perpetrated by a group of students of the Medical Faculty’ the statement said.

The Newspaper Society further said the public pays for the education of these students in the anticipation that they will be the healers of the future. Instead they have chosen to be those inflicting injury on this occasion, on media personnel who were merely going about their duties. ‘Students of the Medical Faculty comprise the elite of our youth who must aspire to the highest levels of professionalism in their discipline. The crude behaviours of some of them, have cast a sad reflection on the entire faculty,’ it said.

Infection has spread: Editors Guild

The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka has condemned the attack by Medical Faculty students on two photographers and a video cameraman and pointed out that failure to take action against high profile individuals have created an atmosphere for sections in low ranks to carry out attacks on journalists.
The statement said: The Editors Guild of Sri Lanka vehemently condemns the despicable attack on four journalists and seizing of their camera equipment, by a group claiming to be students from the Medical Faculty and security personnel of the faculty hostel.

The Guild does not approve of these continuing acts of violence and intimidation targeting journalists and requests immediate legal action against those responsible.

In recent times journalists have been subject to assault and abduction. Action not being taken against the perpetrators of these crimes has resulted in an increase of such incidents. It was high profile individuals who were behind a majority of violence against journalists in the recent past. However, since no action was taken against any of these individuals, the infection has spread to others.

This trend of intimidating the media by persons of all walks of life has a negative effect on the freedom of expression of a democratic society. The Guild will continue to support the action taken against this trend by various media personnel and organisations.

 
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