The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is alarmed at new reports
that Sri Lankan Army Commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka continues to
menace independent media by interfering with defence reporting in two major
newspapers.
According to the five leading journalists’ organizations in Sri Lanka,
including IFJ affiliates the Free Media Movement (FMM),
the Sri Lankan Working Journalists Association (SLWJA), the Federation of Media
Employees Trade Union (FMETU) as
well as the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF) and the Sri Lanka Tamil Media
Alliance (SLTMA), Fonseka reportedly advised Lankadeepa staff journalist Indika Ramanayake that he would refuse
to cooperate with the newspaper if two regular defence columns continued to be
published.
Referring to a defence analysis by Duminda Sanjeewa in the Sunday Lankadeepa, and the Sinhala
translation of a security situation column by defence writer Iqbal Athas,
associate editor of the Sunday Times, Fonseka
made the threat when Ramanayake contacted him to obtain defence-related
information on August 5.
The five media organisations called Fonseka’s action as an “indirect
intimidation aimed at media censorship,” the FMM
reports.
On January 2 in an interview published in the state-controlled Sinhala
daily Dinamina, Fonseka incited
anti-media hate speech after labeling some sections of the media as “traitors”
and the only obstacle hampering the military’s fight to defeat the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
In the July 20 edition of the Sunday
Observer newspaper and the Sinhala-language weekly Lakbima, Fonseka was reported as voicing antagonism towards defence
reporters in Sri Lanka,
suggesting a “blame the victim” attitude in relation to the spike of violence
against journalists in 2008.
With
reference to the abduction and overnight torture of defence correspondent Keith
Noyahr in May 2008, General Fonseka is quoted as saying that if the journalist
“has not done anything wrong”, then “he does not have to live in fear”.
“It is deplorable that high ranking Sri Lankan officials like Fonseka
find it appropriate to use their positions to attempt to change editorial
policy to shape the messages the media sends out,” the IFJ
Asia-Pacific said.
“These threats simply undermine free and independent journalism at a time
when the people of Sri Lanka
desperately need it.”
The IFJ joins the FMM, SLWJA, FMETU, SLMMA and SLTMA in once again calling on the
government to ensure the cessation of violence and intimidation against the
media.
For further
information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919
The IFJ
represents over 600,000 in 122 countries worldwide