Image: Shantha Pathma Kumara, a Ratnapura District MP of the ruling party is in the center of cannabis plants story.
- In an unprecedented move Police have requested the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka to take action against a TV station.
- The JVP/NPP politicians have apparently graduated from roughing up their political rivals to assaulting policemen says Island Editorial.
Hiru Media Network has strongly rejected allegations made by the Sri Lanka Police Media Division, warning that recent actions targeting the broadcaster represent a serious threat to freedom of expression, media independence, and the public’s fundamental right to information.
In a letter addressed to the Police Media Division, Hiru TV stated that the conduct of the police media unit undermines democratic values and seeks to restrict journalists from reporting on matters of clear public interest. The broadcaster stressed that a free and independent media is essential to ensuring transparency, accountability, and informed public discourse in a democratic society.
The response follows a letter issued by police objecting to Hiru TV’s coverage of a cannabis plantation raid in Embilipitiya and an alleged assault on a police constable. Hiru TV noted that key evidence related to the incident had been recorded by the police themselves but was neither disclosed to the courts nor made available to the public until it was reported by the channel.
Questioning this lack of disclosure, Hiru TV asked why such critical evidence—obtained during an official criminal investigation—had not been released through proper channels earlier, highlighting the media’s role in bringing information of public importance to light when official transparency falls short.
The letter, signed by Deputy News Director Tharanga Jayakody, further pointed out that complaints and statements made by a constable attached to the Sooriyakanda Police suggested a possible link between the alleged assault and the cannabis plantation raid. While police have denied establishing such a connection, Hiru TV stated that it possesses sufficient evidence and credible sources to justify its reporting and firmly rejected the Police Media Division’s claims.
Hiru TV also expressed concern over Sri Lanka Police informing the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) and requesting regulatory action against the broadcaster. The channel warned that such measures risk creating a chilling effect on media freedom, where regulatory mechanisms are used to pressure or silence critical journalism.
Emphasising its editorial responsibility, Hiru TV said its decision to broadcast the material was guided by respect for the public’s right to know. The network stressed that reporting verified evidence recorded by law enforcement authorities cannot be portrayed as misleading or irresponsible journalism, but rather as a legitimate exercise of freedom of expression.
The exchange takes place amid growing tensions between the government and sections of the media, with authorities accusing certain outlets of publishing unverified or misleading reports—claims that Hiru TV has categorically denied. The broadcaster reiterated that attempts to intimidate or penalise media institutions for reporting on matters of public interest pose a serious risk to democratic governance and press freedom.
(Edited version form a Newswire story)
Editorial The Island
A very sad day for the rule of law
Tuesday 23rd December, 2025
What’s this world coming to when the police cringe and cower before politicians? The JVP has a history of attacking the police. It even murdered the family members of the police personnel who dared defy its illegal orders during its reign of terror in the late 1980s. Old habits are said to die hard. A policeman attached to the Suriyakanda police station has complained that a gang led by a JVP/NPP MP assaulted him following a raid on a cannabis cultivation in Bulutota in the Suriyakanda area. The victim was first admitted to the Kolonna hospital and thereafter transferred to the District General Hospital, Embilipitiya.
NPP MP Shantha Pathmakumara Subasinghe has denied any involvement in the aforesaid assault incident. He has claimed that the policeman confronted him and there was a heated argument; the assault incident was a total fabrication and part of a conspiracy against him, he has alleged. If so, why was the policeman hospitalised and transferred to a District General Hospital? Another police officer has been transferred over the cannabis cultivation issue, according to media reports.
Worse, the policeman receiving treatment was arrested yesterday while his assailants were moving about freely! Thankfully, he was granted bail.
If the land used for cannabis cultivation in Bulutota had belonged to an Opposition politician, IGP Priyantha Weerasooriya himself would have rushed there and held a press conference. Most of all, if the assailants of the policeman had been political rivals of the ruling JVP/NPP, they would have been arrested immediately.
The JVP/NPP politicians have apparently graduated from roughing up their political rivals to assaulting policemen. Such transgressions brought about the collapse of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, which gave free rein to the likes of Mervyn Silva, who together with his son, reduced the police to a bunch of lackeys. The culture of impunity persists despite last year’s regime change.
The JVP leaders asked for stern action against Mervyn, his son and other goons—and rightly so. They sought a popular mandate to govern the country, break what they called a 76-year curse, eliminate bribery and corruption and political violence and restore the rule of law. But today the ruling party politicians have risen above the law. The police mysteriously ran out of breathalyzers when NPP MP Asoka Ranwala met with an accident. He was subjected to a blood alcohol test more than 12 hours after the crash, and his blood and urine samples were sent to the Government Analyst’s Department. It was a foregone conclusion that those samples would test negative for alcohol. There have been instances where heroin samples sent to the Government Analyst’s Department for testing turned out to be flour! Such is the integrity of that institution.
The police unashamedly sided with a group of JVP cadres who stormed a Frontline Socialist Party office and forcibly occupied it a few months ago. The JVP/NPP members can park their vehicles anywhere on the expressway with impunity. Drunk driving is not a problem for the government MPs, for they can undergo blood alcohol tests leisurely after they become fully sober in case of accidents. When raids happen to expose ruling party politicians’ involvement in drug dealing, police officers who conduct them are transferred or assaulted.
One of the worst things that can happen to a country is for its citizens to lose faith in its legal system. A perquisite for bringing order out of chaos in any society is to restore the rule of law, and this is a task for statespersons and not a bunch of self-righteous politicians posing as messiahs.
Politicians take leave of their senses when power goes to their heads. This may explain why they rough up policemen, subvert the legal process, hold ceremonies to mark the resumption of train services after disasters and dance like clowns at railway stations while the country is mourning hundreds of its citizens who perished in disasters.