U.S. ‘appalled’ by Sri Lanka attacks on journalists

By pearlaction | January 24, 2009 |

[Reuters] The United States said it was “appalled” by violence against journalists in Sri Lanka, after an editor was stabbed on Friday, the third attack on the country’s media this month. “The United States is appalled by continuing physical attacks and threats against media personnel in Sri Lanka,” State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood said…

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Sri Lanka: Free Journalists Held Illegally

By pearlaction | January 22, 2009 |

[HRW] President Mahinda Rajapakse should order prosecutors to drop all charges against journalists held on politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the president today. J.S. Tissainayagam, a journalist, and N. Jashiharan, a publisher, and his wife, V. Valamathy, have been in detention since March 2008. The letter identified serious violations…

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IPI Calls Impunity a ‘Dark Stain’ on Sri Lankan Government

By pearlaction | January 19, 2009 |

[IPI] The International Press Institute joined other leading media rights organisations today in condemning a “culture of impunity and indifference” over attacks on journalists in Sri Lanka. IPI has pushed for action by highlighting in its Justice Denied Campaign the case of Subramaniyam Sukirtharajan, a journalist shot dead in the eastern city of Trincomalee by…

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“Attacks on media must stop”

By pearlaction | January 14, 2009 |

[IRIN] The Sri Lankan government is under intense local and international pressure to halt attacks against journalists and media organisations after a newspaper editor was killed and a private television station attacked by unidentified armed gangs. The incidents came as the military announced making significant headway in its battle against Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam…

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