The Sri Lanka Professional Journalists Association, viewing the illegal summons issued by the Gampola Police against journalist Tharindu Jayawardena for his media activities, as well as the Sri Lanka Police’s request to the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to revoke the broadcasting license of Hiru Media, as blatant attempts to implement the government’s agenda of media suppression by establishing a police state, urges the government to refrain from such actions and to create the necessary environment for the establishment of genuine media freedom and media ethics in this country.
The press release in full: ( Translated by SLB from original Sinhala release)
Press Release – Government’s Crackdown on Journalists and Media Institutions
The Sri Lanka Professional Journalists Association strongly condemns the government’s attempts to suppress freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and media freedom by illegally summoning journalist Tharindu Jayawardena to the Gampola Police Station for his media activities and by requesting the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to revoke the broadcasting license of Hiru Media.
The police have informed journalist Tharindu Jayawardena to report to the Gampola Police Station on 26-12-2025 at 11.00 a.m. to obtain evidence in connection with a complaint arising from the media’s exposure of a number of frauds and acts of corruption at the Ambuluwawa Biodiversity Complex and related institutions. Similarly, in a news report broadcast by Hiru Media on a cannabis raid, information was revealed regarding an attack on a police officer involved in the raid, as well as a connection between the ownership of a cannabis farm and a party affiliated with the National People’s Power government. The police have requested the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka to revoke Hiru Media’s broadcasting license, labelling the report as false news.
In both cases, it appears that the police have interfered with the free media activities of the journalist and the media institution concerned, with the intention of carrying out illegal suppression. If journalists or media institutions have disseminated inaccurate news, there are accepted legal mechanisms and procedures to address such matters. Despite this, the actions taken through the police constitute state-sponsored suppression targeting journalists and media institutions that the government is unable to control. The extreme measures taken to suppress media freedom and the right to freedom of speech and expression during the 15-month tenure of the National People’s Power government raise serious concern and expose the true nature of the National People’s Power government, which came to power disguised in the rhetoric of media freedom.
We urge the government to abandon its blatant attempts to enforce media suppression by establishing the authority of a police state and instead to create the necessary environment for genuine media freedom and media ethics in this country. We also call upon journalists to unite and collectively oppose the government’s erosion of media freedom in Sri Lanka through repressive laws and undue interference.