The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Free Media movement (FMM) condemned the arrest of an Uthayan journalist and intimidation of 3 further Tamil journalists in Jaffna.
In a statement released on Monday the IFJ, noting that Sri Lanka's commitments to media freedom were “clearly slow in filtrating to the police in the country’s north,” said,
“This is clearly an attempt to police and intimidate journalists in Jaffna and sows the dismissal status of press freedom in Sri Lanka even after the promise by the new government to improve the safety situation.”
The FMM added,
“The FMM considered both these acts unacceptable. The FMM urges the government to investigate these incidents at the same time to implement structural and policy changes to avoid such incidents in the future.”
Uthayan journalists do not feel free – Editor (10 Apr 2015)
Jaffna journalist detained after investigating assault by Sri Lankan police (08 April 2015)
Tamil journalists threatened by police in Jaffna (08 April 2015)
New Sri Lanka govt has not led to anticipated change says Wigneswaran (06 April 2015)
Surveillance of journalists in North must stop, says international media mission (01 March 2015)
Sri Lanka ranks 4th in global impunity index for killings of journalists (16 April 2014)
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
