IFJ Fears For Missing Journalist, Urges End to Harassment in Sri Lanka

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) fully support the call made by the five principal organisations of journalists in Sri Lanka urging government authorities to end immediately the harassment of media personnel, which reached alarming levels on and just before January 26, the day of the country’s presidential election.

 

The Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association (SLWJA), the Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Unions (FMETU), the Free Media Movement (FMM), the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF) – together known as the SL5 – issued a joint statement recording how the election was marked by an unprecedented degree of abuse of the state-owned media in the cause of the incumbent president, Mahinda Rajapakse.

 

The IFJ is deeply concerned for the safety of journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, who has been missing since the evening of January 24. His wife registered a complaint with police but they claim a lack of resources to investigate due to the responsibilities imposed by the election.

 

“The IFJ calls on power-holders in Sri Lanka to step up all efforts to trace Prageeth Eknaligoda, to rescind bans on numerous news portals and to submit to independent scrutiny of the conduct of state media during the election campaign,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said.

 

The offices of news portal Lanka E News, for which Eknaligoda used to work, were surrounded by security officials for about two hours on Thursday night. About 10 officers padlocked the gates at the entrance to the office before leaving, effectively locking in staff. It is reported that the police and the army deny sending officers to the location.

 

National telecom authorities had blocked Lanka E News on January 26, just as polling began. Complaints from staff to the Commissioner for Elections resulted in the site becoming available briefly to internet users in Sri Lanka. But the ban was reimposed soon after polling concluded.

 

Meanwhile, senior management of state broadcaster the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) used physical violence and verbal threats against staffers who objected to the agency’s partisan coverage during the election campaign.

 

Reports from the SL5 indicate that the corporation chairman and other managers assaulted and threatened senior staffers who insisted on following the directives of the Commissioner for Elections on providing equal and balanced coverage to all presidential candidates.

 

“Efforts to obstruct free reporting suggest that the political mood is becoming more uncompromising on the part of the authorities, despite the comfortable margin of victory registered by Mahinda Rajapakse,” White said.

 

“Only an explicit acknowledgment, in words and deed, of the importance of a free and autonomous media will serve to remedy some of the deep divisions in Sri Lanka.”

 

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919

 

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 125 countries