Media groups to have talks with Govt.

The FMM will invite its local and international affiliates for talks with the Government on changing its attitude to journalists, Free Media Movement (FMM) Convener Sunanda Deshapriya said.“The minister’s refusal to acknowledge the deaths of seven journalists due to their failure to possess Government issued media identification is unacceptable in the democratic world,” he told The Sunday Times, condemning the Government’s disinterest in the welfare of the country’s media personnel.

He said the FMM was currently involved in raising awareness among the people about the lamentable fate of the country’s journalists. FMM’s main focus is to raise awareness within a legal framework, which includes the Freedom of Information Act, Contempt of Court Law, amendment of Parliamentary privileges and converting the State-controlled media into public, independent media.

“We will call upon our international and local affiliates to help amend the minister’s classification of a journalist and achieve a constructive working dialogue with the Government to ensure media security,” Mr. Deshapriya said.

The true implications resulting from the country’s deteriorating human rights situation became obvious when Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) identified Sri Lanka as the third most dangerous country for journalists, based on the deaths of seven media personnel this year.

Iraq led the list for the fifth year in a row with 50 deaths, followed by Somalia with eight fatalities. However, when confronted with these data, Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa refused to accept the deaths of these journalists, declaring that none of the victims were journalists since they failed to possess a media identity card by which they were registered as journalists at the Government Information Department.

Replying to the minister’s reaction, Mr. Deshapriya told The Sunday Times that never before in the world had a journalist been defined according to the minister’s description.“The use of the media identity card had not a practice in Sri Lanka until very recently and is definitely not the determining factor when defining a journalist,” he said, adding, “journalists around the world are defined as gatherers, organizers and distributors of information through a news medium or by self and not as those who possess media identification.”

On December 11, four persons visited the residence of senior Reuters photojournalist Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi at Sarojinee Watta, Hokandara, under the guise of telephone repairmen from the Sri Lanka Telecom. While Mr. Lokuhapuarachchi was at work, they proceeded to subject his wife to a thorough interrogation about his activities.

“At the end of this interrogation, one of them had shown his CID identity card, stating he was K. Somapala from Thalangama Police and left. However, when we requested information from the CID, the IGP and the Thalangama Police, they denied the existence of Mr. Somapala. Mr. Lokuhapuarachchi has not reported the incident to the Police,” Mr. Deshapriya said.