Media Organizations up in arms against recent arrests and intimidations against journalists

A five-member collective of media organizations urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to guarantee that recent investigations against journalists will be within the due legal provisions at all times since actions that lead to intimidation and threaten journalists could “hamper their freedom and restrict their professional work”.

The five local media outfits wrote a letter to IGP Chandana Wickramaratne yesterday titled “Regarding the arrest and interrogation of journalists!”, indicated the recent arrests of journalists across the country by police pose a threat of free speech and intimidation by authorities
Dharmasiri Lankapeli- Secretary, Federation of Media Employees' Trade Union, Seetha Ranjanee- Convener, Free Media Movement, Duminda Sampath ,- President, Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association, N.M. Ameen- President, Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum, Kanapathipillai Sarvananda- Secretary ,Tamil Media Allianc and Indunil Usgoda Arachchi- Secretary,, Sri Lanka Young Journalists’ Association are signatories in the collective letter to the IGP. 

According to the editorial board of the Lanka e-News website,Keerthi Ratnayake, a journalist attached to the website,was arrested and placed on a 90-day detention order for providing certain information to the Indian Embassy. 

“We, as a Media Organisations Collective, would request that the arrested journalist be investigated under the prescribed legal provisions and that his life be protected against all harm. This is based on the expressed concerns of the e-News editorial board that the life of the journalist could be in danger while the Police are investigating sources and information regarding the website, going beyond the reason for his arrest,” the statement said. ,

The collective letter also pointed out that journalists have professional accountability and a tradition of not disclosing or divulging sources that provide them with information other than the sources relevant to an incident in a judicial process. “Therefore, we request that accurate information pertaining to the Keerthi Ratnayake incident be publicized and that all actions be in compliance with the due legal provisions,”

Meanwhile, Thushara Wanniarachchi, a social media activist, complained that a large group of police officers had searched her house recently early in the morning. 

The media outfits also raised concerns over a recent incident where a group of unidentified people claiming to be from the CID had tried to enter the residence of R. Sivarajah, the editor of the Thamilan newspaper.  A journalist from Batticaloa was also interrogated by the police recently. 

“We are concerned about the background of these recent events and reiterate that it is always advisable to provide definite information to the public. We also call on you to ensure that specific reasons for the arrest of journalists are made public at all times,” the letter said.