Photo-Journalists Denied Access to Sri Lanka Parliament

          
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is alarmed at the latest attack on press freedom in Sri Lanka, in which photo-journalists were banned from covering a budget speech in Parliament on 7 November.

All media institutions were invited to cover the budget announcement, but only photo-journalists from State-controlled media were permitted into the Parliament to cover the event.

According to the Free Media Movement (FMM), an IFJ affiliate, all photo-journalists at the announcement protested the ban by boycotting the tea party that traditionally follows the presentation of the budget.

IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said the ban was a blow for media freedom and independent journalism in Sri Lanka.

The IFJ fully supports the FMM to demand that non-state media in Sri Lanka be given the same access to official events as state media, without fear of censorship or discrimination.

The IFJ also calls on Sri Lanka’s Government to respect media diversity as one of the key conditions of democratic governance.

For more information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0919

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in more than 115 countries