The Sri Lankan Army dispelled allegations of media intimidation, claiming instead, that special interest groups were being funded to highlight that there is no media freedom in Sri Lanka.
Addressing a workshop organised by the Sri Lanka Press Complaints Commission, Army spokesman, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya, purported that groups were engaged in funded efforts to portray to the international community that there is no media freedom in Sri Lanka.
The army spokesman went on to argue that,
“There are no obstructions in the country for the publication of news, news reporting or sale of newspapers. No censorship has been imposed on media. The government always acts in a manner to consolidate media freedom,”
The army spokesman also claimed that foreign elements were continuously working for a ‘terrorist’ agenda by promoting ideas of separatism that exist in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s claim of upholding media freedom, coincides with the latest occurrence, in a series of attacks on Tamil Newspapers in the north, of media intimidation.