New President: media violence escalates in Sri Lanka
IFJ
NEW DELHI, December 17, 2019: Since the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President of Sri Lanka on November 18, there have been seven reported attacks on the media. Gotabaya has a history of alleged corruption and sanctioned attacks during his tenure as the former Secretary of Defense including accusations of attacking and murdering journalists, including the high profile case of Lasantha Wickrematunge in 2008.
Violence against media workers began escalating on November 25, police in civilian clothing interrogated the editor of Thinnapuyal, a Tamil regional newspaper. The following day, police raided Newshub, an online Sri Lankan newspaper and summoned the Leader editor, Dhanushka Sanjaya, for “interrogation”.
On November 28, Thushara Vitharana, an editor for Voicetube, was also summoned by police for interrogation. The interrogations failed to follow Sri Lankan law, which requires journalists to be informed of the reason for a summons.
The past two weeks, in particular, have seen an escalation in intimidation. On December 6, Thusitha Kumara de Silva, a correspondent for Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror and Lankadeepa, was attacked in his home by 10 to 15 men armed with clubs. It is alleged that this was payback for the journalist’s reporting on the illegal liquor trade in Kalutara District, Sri Lanka.
Thusitha’s wife was also injured in the attack. They were treated in hospital with serious injuries to their heads and bodies.