Category: Politics

January 25, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is in the grip of its biggest military offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels, but the country’s journalists are also facing an unprecedented battle of their own. Unidentified attackers stabbed weekly newspaper editor Upali Tennakoon and smashed his car as he drove to work Friday in the latest in […]

LONDON, January 23, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities must ensure that the island’s media can work freely and safely, Amnesty International said Friday, as a string of violent attacks against reporters escalated.“By threatening journalists with the risk of arrest, and failing to protect them from attack, the government is failing its citizens.” The London-based […]

January 24, 2009 (AFP) – Continuing attacks against journalists in Sri Lanka show the deteriorating conditions media workers face in the country, a statement released by the US embassy here said Saturday.In the statement, US State Department acting spokesman Robert A.Wood said the United States was appalled by ongoing physical attacks and threats against the […]

January 24, 2009 (AFP) – Continuing attacks against journalists in Sri Lanka show the deteriorating conditions media workers face in the country, a statement released by the US embassy here said Saturday.In the statement, US State Department acting spokesman Robert A. Wood said the United States was appalled by ongoing physical attacks and threats against […]

Jan 23, 2009 (LBO) – An editor of a Sri Lankan weekly newspaper and his wife had been have been assaulted, a staff member said, weeks after an editor of a newspaper critical of the government had been gunned down. Noyahr then left the country. The ownership of the newspaper firm then changed hands. The […]

Jan 22, 2009 (LBO) – Britain has urged the Sri Lankan government to take strong action to prevent human rights abuses and called on both sides to the ethnic conflict to ensure the safety of civilians. “Creating an environment in which people from all communities in Sri Lanka live without fear is essential to creating […]

January 14, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government censured a senior international diplomat after he spoke at the funeral of a newspaper editor whose murder has been blamed on the island’s rulers, officials said Wednesday.Sri Lanka’s opposition has demanded an international probe into the killing, which drew condemnation from the US, the European Union and […]

January 12, 2009 (AFP) – The funeral of a Sri Lankan newspaper editor and staunch critic of the war on Tamil rebels was held Monday with the island’s government facing allegations of being behind his execution-style murder.Security was tight as thousands of mourners attended a Christian service for Lasantha Wickrematunga at the Assembly of God […]

Jan 09, 2008 (LBO) – Violence against media is a conspiracy to pave the way for international involvement in the island’s internal affairs, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. The most recent violence drew widespread condemnation from the United States, the European Union and rights bodies, who called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, and […]

January 9, 2009 (AFP) – Hundreds of Sri Lankan journalists took to the streets Friday to protest against the killing of a newspaper editor, as the government came under local and foreign pressure to protect freedom of expression.The demonstration in Colombo demanded a halt to violence, threats and intimidation after Thursday’s shooting of Lasantha Wickrematunga, […]

BRUSSELS, January 8, 2009 (AFP) – The European Union condemned Thursday the shooting death of a respected Sri Lankan newspaper editor and expressed concern about media freedoms in the South Asian nation.Wickrematunga, 52, was shot by gunmen on two motorcycles as he drove to work near Colombo. He was rushed to hospital but died after […]

Jan 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs freedom of information to develop, and Sri Lanka’s government should hold full and transparent investigations on violence against the media, the World Bank said. “The World Bank urges the Government of Sri Lanka to hold full and transparent investigations of incidents of violence against media,” the World […]