Sri Lanka

Assailants on motorbikes attacked a Sri Lankan newspaper editor and his wife as they drove to work Friday morning, stabbing them repeatedly, the Associated Press (AP) has reported quoting authorities. The couple received minor wounds and both were expected to recover. Four people on motorbikes blocked Upali Tennakoon's car outside of Colombo as he and his wife were heading to work at the...

The International Press Freedom Mission has condemned a "culture of impunity and indifference" over killings and attacks on journalists in Sri Lanka. Since the beginning of the New Year, both the killing of a senior editor and the attack on the facilities of a popular independent TV channel have led to a total paralysis of the media community. Launching a new report, 'Media Under Fire: Press...

Sri Lanka's government censured a senior international diplomat after he spoke at the funeral of a newspaper editor whose murder has been blamed on the island's rulers, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Wednesday. German ambassador Jurgen Weerth was ordered to the Colombo foreign office and told of Sri Lanka's anger over his graveside eulogy for Lasantha Wickrematunga, officials who declined to...

Gunmen on a motorcycle Thursday shot and killed the editor of a Sri Lankan newspaper critical of the government, the second violent attack on media this week. Sunday Leader Chief Editor Lasantha Wickramatunga was in a car on his way to work when he was attacked, Wickramatunga's brother Lal told Reuters. "The gunman smashed the window of the vehicle and shot at him," Lal Wickramatunga said. Doctors...

A Sri Lankan court has ruled that an alleged confession made by senior Tamil journalist JS Tissainayagam while detained by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) was voluntary and admissible as evidence in his trial on terrorism charges, according to delayed reports. It is widely believed that Tissainayagam was forced to make a statement to TID under extreme duress. Giving evidence in Colombo...

The government-controlled Sri Lanka Broadcasting Cooperation (SLBC) censored the BBC Sinhala and Tamil service programmes broadcast on November 27, five press freedom groups have said. Sections of the programme on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V Prabhakaran's "Hero's Day" speech and a Defence Watch press conference were censored, making them inaudible to listeners. Defence Watch...

Tamil radio presenter and director of privately-owned radio Vettri FM, ARV Loshan, has been released by Sri Lanka's Terrorist Investigations Department after being held for eight days. His mother told Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) he was not hurt during his imprisonment. The police have for the time being held on to his mobile phones but they will supposedly be returned to him in the...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned Sri Lankan government pressure that led to the debate programme “Ira Anduru Pata” being cut short as it was being broadcast live on the evening of November 4 on state TV station Rupavahini. It ended a discussion of a new broadcasting law by three guests, including Free Media Movement convenor Uvindu Kurukulasuriya. The presenter announced a break for...

The press freedom situation in Sri Lanka has noticeably deteriorated over the past year, marked by a continuation in murders, attacks, abductions, intimidation and harassment of the media, says an international press freedom mission to Sri Lanka. Media in war-affected areas in the north and east continue to be the most insecure, facing threats and restrictions from all parties, says the mission...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed alarm at the shooting of Sri Lankan journalist Radhika Devakumar on Monday evening. A gunman or gunmen fired on Devakumar, an ethnic Tamil, at her home in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka. She was in critical condition Thursday after being transferred to a Colombo hospital, the reports said. Initial reports differed on details of the attack...