News
Media workshop at SLPI disrupted by mob
A workshop for journalists organised by a non profit organisation that was to be held at the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) yesterday was called off abruptly after a mob protested outside the institute in Narahenpita.
SLPI Media Resource Centre Director Kumar Lopez said a crowd of around 30 to 40 people protested in front of the institute in Kirula Road, Colombo 5 , around 9.30 a.m. shouting slogans accusing its authorities of supporting illegal activities and the LTTE.
The Workshop was co-organised by Rights Now Collective for Democracy and the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA). The SLPI had rented their auditorium to the organisations, Mr. Lopez said.
FMM and Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance members hold news conference to condemn the incident
“It was on social media and 16 journalists from Jaffna were to take part in it,” he said.
Mr. Lopez said there was no one inside the building at the time of the protest . The protesters handed over a letter to the institute security guard threatening to cause physical harm if its officials continued to assist such workshops. They had dispersed shortly thereafter.
He also said that a similar workshop organised by the same parties took place last week without any interruptions. The protesters were accompanied by a television crew from the state media, Mr. Lopez said.
Meanwhile, on Friday night seven journalists arriving from Jaffna for the workshop were detained by police at the Omanthai checkpoint on the grounds that the van in which they were travelling was transporting cannabis.
“Around 9 p.m. a man had got off a bus and informed the security officials at the checkpoint that a van travelling behind the bus was carrying illicit drugs. The security checked the vehicle and found a packet of cigarettes containing four cannabis sticks on the dashboard of the van. It was later that they found out that it was transporting journalists to Colombo,” Army Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya said.
He said that the journalists were released but the driver of the van was remanded.
At a news conference held at the SLPI last afternoon Free Media Movement convenor Sunil Jayasekara said the incident was a clear indication that there was no media freedom in Sri Lanka.
“I was threatened by an unidentified person on my mobile phone. The callers’ number was not displayed on my phone. They wanted me to cancel this press conference,” he said.
“A journalist needs to be trained so that they can do more for society. The government is stopping that from happening. What they want are journalists who will be their puppets,” he said.
SLTMA Executive Member A. Nixon, while condemning the incident said, “This workshop was not against the government. All we wanted was to increase the knowledge of journalists.We do not need to ask for media freedom or democracy from the government. It is a fundamental right in any country,” he said.
The Government issued a circular two weeks ago banning NGOs from funding workshops, taking part in press briefings and issuing press releases.