Freedom of expression

Amnesty International is concerned by multiple reports of harassment, intimidation and attacks on human rights organisations, media outlets, and journalists in Sri Lanka. Amnesty International has received reports that the authorities carried out more than a dozen unscheduled visits to human rights and media organisations between May 2019 and January 2020 that were seen as […]

The Free Media Movement strongly condemns the demeaning way the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Mulleriyawa Police has allegedly treated professional journalist Nimanthi Ranasinghe, who works as a court correspondent for Lankadeepa.  According to reports reaching us, Nimanthi Ranasinghe had visited the Mulleriyawa police station to complain about a threat to her professional career […]

Image: The 19A was thus, achieved by the resilient advocacy of academics, politicians, civil society groups, erudite clergy and many more agitated citizens of the country who were frustrated by the constitutional chaos and abuse of democracy caused by the 18A.  Just before the dawn of the New Year, two constitutional amendment Bills were presented […]

Image: Commemorations for veteran journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge were held  Jan. 8 in Colombo. Gunmen murdered Wickrematunge seven years ago. (Story and the Photo  by Niranjani Roland) Supporters of an outspoken Sri Lankan journalist, who was murdered in 2009, have urged the government to properly investigate his death and to ensure that media is protected. Lasantha […]

PEN International is deeply concerned by the ongoing legal proceedings against award-winning writer, Shakthika Sathkumara, accused of inciting religious hatred and violating international human rights Law under Section 3(1) of Sri Lanka’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act No. 56 of 2007 (ICCPR Act 2007) and Article 291B of the Penal Code. Sathkumara is still awaiting the decision of […]

A special Police team  conducted a search operation at UNP Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayaka’s residence at Madiwela. They had obtained a warrant obtained from Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court. UNP Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake has been arrested by the police over possession of a pistol without a valid license reports Daily Mirror. Ramanayaka  tweed  11,30 AM Sri Lanka time […]

We are bang into the New Year. The new session of Parliament has been opened by the President. Parliamentary politics could move to a new swing, with a government not having a formal majority in the House. There is also another political tune at play – that of the National Anthem. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa acknowledged […]

Almost exactly five years after starting this column. I will end it before it is ended. The non-publication of the column a week into the new Presidency was a reminder that the space enjoyed by writers to critique political power from January 2015, is now under threat. One must be empathetic with publishers and Editors. […]

Free Media Movement condemns the obstruction of journalists’ from carrying out their professional activities  The Free Media Movement strongly condemns the attack on journalist Prasad Purnamal Jayamanne and the obstruction in carrying out his professional media activities.  According to the reports received, Prasad Purnamal Jayamanne who was photographing a protest by villagers against a tipper […]

Sri Lanka Brief. – Post Presidential Election Update No 03/16 December 2019. Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa presented a cabinet paper in the first week of December for the establishment of a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry (SPCOI), under the SPCOI Law (1978) to investigate government officials who had conducted ‘witch hunts’ […]

“The tragic paradox of the electoral route to authoritarianism is that democracy’s assassins use the very institutions of democracy – gradually, subtly, and even legally – to kill it.” -Stephen Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (How Democracies Die) “As if our democracy was nothing but a short-lived dream,” says Brazilian filmmaker Petra Costa in The Edge of […]

Image: A journalist attached to the Lankadeepa newspaper and his family were attacked by a group of men. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday assured that media freedom will not be hindered in any form during his tenure, according to a statement from his office. Addressing heads of local media institutions, he said that […]

The normal operations of the office of the Consortium of Non-Governmental Organisations in Ampaa’rai district has been thoroughly disrupted by the frequent-inspections and questionings conducted by the ‘Terrorist’ Investigation Division (TID) of occupying Colombo, the representatives of the member organisations in the district told TamilNet on Wednesday. The TID was questioning particularly about the activities […]

Image; Counsel Upul Kumarapperuma. Colombo Magistrate Lanka Jayarathne has asked the Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the victim of the Swiss Embassy case, to provide the CID with material where he was verbally attacked for appearing for her. Counsel Upul Kumarapperuma, who appeared on behalf of the victim, Ganiya Banister Francis, complained that he […]

Former Editor of the Digital and New Media Unit of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (Lake House) and founder of popular social media page ‘Madyawediya’ Madhuka Thaksala Fernando has been attacked and issued death threats by the President of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) trade union of Lake House and a number of […]

Image: Pro Rajapaksa media has been publishing photos from different angles trying to capture the alleged victim. Aftermath and reportage of incident involving alleged abduction of Swiss Embassy employee. 11 December 2019, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned with recent events in the aftermath of the incident in which an […]

The mainstream media coverage of the the Swiss Embassy employee who was allegedly kidnapped and later released has come under criticism for unethical behavior. Many pro government media has published the victims photograph without her consent. She appeared before the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for the 3rd day today reports Colombo Gazette. Even before […]

Washington, D.C. – On December 9, 2019, Freedom Now and Proskauer Rose LLP filed a petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Sri Lankan author Shakthika Sathkumara. Freedom Now and Proskauer argue that Sri Lanka’s four month detention of Sathkumara and the ongoing legal proceedings against him violate the government’s obligations […]

The Free Media Movement strongly condemns the continuous threats, harassment and violence the journalists have been subjected over the past few days due to their profession. The latest addition to this sequence of events is the assault targeting the Aluthgama provincial journalist Thusitha Kumara de Silva and his wife. According to him, the STF has […]

Aluthgama police were yet to arrest the suspects identified in connection with the assault of Daily Mirror /Lankadeepa Aluthgama Correspondent Thusitha Kumara de Silva and his wife on Friday night over an alleged exposure of an artificial toddy mafia in the Kalutara District. A large number of Kalutara District journalists representing mainstream print and electronic […]

Image: Thushara Vitharana, a journalist of Voice Tube were summoned by police for interrogation . 2019-11-29/ Media Release/FMM. Sri Lanka Police and Security Forces Must Maintain Openness on Public Peace. Free Media Movement of Sri Lanka expresses its concerns on calling two journalists to the Criminal Investigation Department, for questioning the information regarding the investigations […]

Image: Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s newly elected president, center, greeting supporters after his swearing-in ceremony in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, this month.Credit…Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press. A Swiss Embassy employee is abducted and asked about asylum applications an.d investigators are banned from leaving just days after Gotabaya Rajapaksa is elected. By Maria Abi-Habib and Sameer Yasir. Fears of a potential crackdown on […]

Image: This is a media suppression – Danushka Ramanayake. A Police team from the Mirihana Police searched the newsroom of Newshub.lk this morning, investigating a complaint that there was material that could be classified as hate-speech the Police Spokesman SSP Ruwan Gunesekara  has told RepublicNext today (26). He said police had obtained a search warrant from […]

social media users erroneously believe that Katuwapitiya is a part of the Negombo electorate These messages were not only degrading the people of Negombo, but were also an insult to those who had been killed These hate mongers went as far as to say that those voters who voted for Sajith were terrorists. Any Sri […]

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has openly crticised the police officers who investigated and provided necessary information to  the Attorney General department to file cases. He has targeted SSP Shani Abeysekera & I.P. Nishantha Silva  for such crimes. Former director Criminal Investigation Department SSP Shani Abeysekara has been  transferred to lower level. I.P. Nishantha de Silve has left the […]

Author’s note: On the invitation of the Editor, I’ve written to the Sunday Island newspaper every week since late 2015. Not a single column since then was rejected or even significantly edited, until this one. As I noted on Twitter, the Editor citing “orders from above” said that my column would not be published. This isn’t the first time content […]

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is Sri Lanka’s new president. The former defense minister bested Sajith Premadasa, a serving Cabinet minister who focuses on domestic affairs, in elections last Saturday, riding a nationalist tide that backed his “law and order” platform. The return to power of the Rajapaksa clan could redirect the country’s geopolitical orientation toward China, a […]

Image: European Union (EU) election observers look on as election officials carry ballot boxes to be transferred to a main counting centre after the presidential election voting centres closed, in Colombo (AFP) Sri Lanka’s eighth presidential election, with a record number of 35 candidates vying for the highest office of the state, concluded on Sunday. While […]

(Press Release 23.11.19) Regarding the removal of the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, SSP Shani Abeysekara As Sri Lanka Young Journalists’ Association (YJA), we are displeased that National Police Commission; an independent commission established by the 19th Amendment to the Constitution has made a decision to transfer the CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekara as the […]

The appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister consolidates the hold of the Rajapaksa family on power. The change was entirely on expected lines, after his younger brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, won decisively in the presidential election. Outgoing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose party’s candidate lost the election, submitted his resignation, thus enabling the […]