[ Journalists Proests in Jaffna 31.07.2014 Photo: Jaffna Press Club] Jaffna 31 July 2014: Nearly 200 journalists andcivil activists joined together in a protest campaign against the attacks, intimidations and harassments faced by journalists in the Northern Province today. The protest was organised by the Jaffna Press Club was held in front of the main […]

By Darisha Bastians — The young Parliamentarian from Hambantota was trying to board a plane bound for Geneva on 11 September 1990, when he was intercepted by an Assistant Superintendent of Police by the name of Kudahetti. The senior Policeman wanted to search the MP’s baggage for fabricated documents likely to be “prejudicial to the […]

[Natioanlist Buddhist militancy on the rise in Sri Lanka] The sa called Relegious police ,set up some monts ago by the regime, has requested Mr.Sirimal Wijesinghe, writer and a film director  to give a statement regardig a complaint lodged against him by a Buddhist  religious organization. The police station related religious conflicts funtioned under the […]

[ A rural vegitable seller in Sri Lanka; photo: Wikipedia] The country currently confronts a worsening economic crisis and the debt accumulation exceeds the annual household income, Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said. The Minister made the observation while addressing an event held in Colombo, today morning. He pointed out that the impact will escalate in […]

[Sunil Jayasekara speaking at the Prees Briefing ,Photo: Sunday Times] Bob Dietz — There is genuine cause for alarm about the anonymous death threats going to Sunil Jayasekara’s phone. They started streaming to Jayasekara, the convener of Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement, an umbrella group (hence calling the leader a convener) of journalists’ organization in […]

[Police torch light on journalists faces; Original photo – Tamil Gaurdian] By Mayoorapriyan– It was last Friday  the 25 July. We, a group of journalists, were asked to come to Jaffna Media Press Club from where  a vehicle would depart around 5:30 PM to Colombo, in order to  attend for a media training program. So […]

[Siritunga Jayasuriya in a argument with the Police at Aluthgama recently, after Police bloced their peace march] Issuing  a media statement on behalf of the United Socialist Party, its leader  Siritunga Jayasuriya calls on left forces to come together along with all other progressive sections of our country to form a united platform of ‘Left […]

Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister has informed that he will give evidence in the Investigative Committee of the United Nations, whilst no Asian country has come forward to permit members of the panel going through the motions of an investigation against Sri Lanka to entire their territory for this purpose. According to the lead news […]

SLB –   Issuing a lengthy statemet, on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, the  military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya  says that ‘there has  not been a single attack on journalists reported in the past few years’. This is only one statement  among number of  such ridiculous assertions made by Brigadier  Wanigasooriya. On the issue of […]

The so-called UN ‘probe’ is only a big show. This is because the whole world knows that the conclusion and the report are already prepared and ready, Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera said. He said what Velupillai Prabhakaran could not do through terrorism, Navaneetham Pillai was trying to do in other ways. […]

[REPORT: International Religious Freedom Report for 2013Sri Lanka] In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) continued to promote its anti-Muslim campaign, which was linked to violent activities during the year. Local media and NGOs noted strong linkages between the BBS and the government. According to numerous reports, the BBS was behind […]

Camille Lepage, a 26-year-old French photojournalist who had spent months documenting deadly conflict in Central African Republic has been killed, the French presidency said Tuesday, May 13. Lepage, a freelance photographer whose work was published in major French and American newspapers, died in western Central African Republic not far from the border with Cameroon, authorities […]

Sri Lanka stands to gain from the proposed Maritime Silk Route policy of the Chinese government as the island’s location puts it in a prime position to act as a hub for South Asia and link to Africa and the Middle East, the Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka Wu Jianghao has said. “We are confident […]

[U.S. Embassy Concerns on Media Freedom in Sri Lanka] The United States is deeply concerned by the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of a journalism training session in Colombo over the weekend. The eventual cancellation of this training, which was focused on digital security for Jaffna-based journalists and financially supported by the U.S. government, was accompanied […]

[Photo: Journalists sitting on the road as a protest] Journalists who protested against military intimidation have been called for questioning tomorrow by the Omanthai police, reports a journalist at Yarl Thinakkural, a Jaffna based newspaper. The journalist, Monday morning, tweeted that 7 journalists who protested against the military had been called in for police questioning. […]

[Phtto Daily Mirror – United Socialist Party leadr Siritunga Jayasuriya arguing with police] Sri Lankan police stopped a peace march on Saturday, stating that “they wanted to prevent any unruly incidents as Buddhist monks and other people were against the march,” the Daily Mirror reported. The march, which was due to take place in Waskaduwa, […]

[Lanka Truth photo: Rally for Unity to commemorate Black July 1983] We Must Fight For A Radical Change In Society by Tamara Kunanayakam — I’m here because I’m Sri Lankan, and I’m here because I’m proud to be Sri Lankan! I’m also here because separatism and partition will not resolve the problems that we face. […]

[Women’s groups protest against the gang rape in Jaffna, 25 July 2014; photo – Tamil Net] Journalists covering the rape case, of two pre-teenage school girls, allegedly by Navy personnel, were thrown out of the Jaffna Courthouse by a group of persons in civilian clothing.  The journalists’ cameras and mobile phones were seized and all […]

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) has sought the approval of Secretary to the Ministry of Law and Order [Brig, Nanda Malawarchchi -SLB] regarding a request made by president of Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) Upul Jayasuriya urging the IGP to ensure his personal security by providing personnel security travelling with him following the […]

[Pak. official recruited Sri Lankan Tamils for recce] Suhasini Haidar  — The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has prepared a dossier to be handed over to Sri Lankan officials with details of an official in the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo, suspected of being involved in a terror plot to target U.S. and Israeli consulates in […]

[Relevance of Freedom of Association in 1992 and today; Ratawasi Peramuna and its players ] By Lakshan Dias, — Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), are the popular punching bag of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), when its actions are challenged by any individual and/or organization. Name-calling, brandishing circulars to warn NGOs and now a draconian […]

[In interview with Upul Jayasuriya, President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL)] by Maheen Senanayake – “No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another.” – Thomas Jefferson I found Mr. Upul Jayasuriya, incumbent head of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, getting ready for the customary […]

[ Why some Buddhists get violent; Photo-VividLife] By Rajeshwari Krishnamurthy — Over the past three years, there has been an evident surge of Buddhist radicalism in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, with the clergy being increasingly involved in violence against minorities, especially Muslims. Both countries have sizeable Muslim populations, and while the situation in Myanmar is […]

By PTI- SINGAPORE: India has told Sri Lanka that it needs to resolve the Tamil issue for making progress in bilateral trade and commerce, a senior BJP leader has said. “We have told them (Sri Lanka) that you should resolve the Tamil issue if you want trade and commerce between Colombo and New Delhi (to […]

[Erik Solheim in the middle whih LTTE and GoSL negotioaters; File photo: AFP] By Easwaran Rutnam – Former Norwegian peace envoy, Erik Solheim, says he is ready to testify before the Government Commission of Inquiry tasked to investigate the war. Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Solheim said that he has nothing to hide and is […]

[Photo: rebel fighters ? in military custody later killed] Another area where the UPFA Government has gone into a state of denial is the widening of the scope of the three-member Commission on Disappearances. Although the terms of reference of the Commission, among others to probe alleged war crimes, are contained in a proclamation issued […]

By SLB – Leader of the mob which  disrupted the media workshop that was to be held in the auditorium of the Sri Lanka Press Institute warned that ” if this institute allows any such training in the future don’t say we are bad boys”.  The person who can be clearly indentified in the video […]

[MEDIA RELEASE: July 26, 2014 ] – The Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA)  condemns in the strongest terms yet another act of intimidation of media by the government orchestrated mobs who sabotaged a planned media workshop for Jaffna journalists scheduled at the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) today( 26). The workshop on Digital media […]

[Speech made by Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, PC at the ‘Vidwath Kathikawa’ organized by the National Movement for Social Justice, 24 July 2014] We have before us today, a wide spectrum of people from both civil and political society – religious leaders, politicians, academics, professionals, artists, trade unionists, civil society activists, media persons, students- agreed at […]

[Photo left to right: A. Nixon (SLTMA) Sunil Jayasekara, Sampath Samarakoon, Delesha Abeysundara (FMM) at the press conference, 26.07.2014] By Sunil Jayasekara – We, the Free Media Movement (FMM) and  Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLMTA)  are here to day to inform you about the harassments faced by out fellow Tamil media journalists yesterday and […]