By Qadijah Irshad | Khaleej Times
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While human rights organisations called the raids a part of a the government’s bid to intimidate and harass all critical journalists, the US and the UN have severely criticised the move.
Rights organisations and the international media in general took the opportunity to remind the world that Lanka is considered as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists.
The Lankan police raided and sealed off a news site and a pro-opposition website last Friday. The editor of the websites and eight journalists were arrested and released on bail the next day, while all the equipment, including the computers were seized by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
In its defence, the government has stated that the main opposition United National Party’s websites are provocative and contain defamatory material. On Tuesday, the Minister of Media and Information, Keheliya Rambukwella, told a local newspaper that the government plans to further ban all websites that “sling mud at the government.”
According to the CID, text and images defamatory of the president had been recovered from the computers of the two websites that had been shut down. While no one has to condone defamation — any defamation, directed at anyone — the government has to tread with care where the media is concerned. Sri Lanka has a high rate of assassinated and missing journalists still unaccounted for, particularly in the light of the looming UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in October/November this year.
The persecution of journalists, however, is not a new phenomenon, nor is it confined to the current regime. When the present government was in the opposition for 17 years from 1977 to 1994, the politicians (some of whom are now on the other side of the fence) were involved in similar anti-government propaganda. Defamatory and insulting articles of the late president R. Premadasa, his family and his government were the bread and butter of publications such as Hoowa (Hoot) and Kaputa (the Crow), choreographed by the opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
It was during this regime that a legendary cartoonist, Yunus was assaulted with his mouth slashed by a razor by thugs for his satire on President Premedasa in one of his popular Aththa (truth) cartoons. Many more journalists have met with worse fate during the governments of both the UNP and the SLFP.
All major political parties of the country have been responsible for the death and abduction of journalists over the years. Throughout the three decades of war, the Tamil Tigers killed countless journalists, including a large number of Tamil journalists who dared to write against the terrorist organisation. Disappearances and threats have been rampant.
It is time for a new era in journalism without fear..
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