Sri Lanka / Asia

  

14 years on, wife of missing Sri Lankan journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda fights for justice

“I don’t know how long it will take, but I will get justice for my Prageeth,” Sandya Ekneligoda, wife of abducted Sri Lankan journalist and government critic Prageeth Ekneligoda, told CPJ via video call. It has been 14 years since Prageeth’s disappearance. Prageeth, a then 50-year-old cartoonist and columnist for the news website Lanka e…

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CPJ joins partners in calling on Sri Lanka to withdraw proposed Online Safety Bill

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joined 58 organizations on Friday in calling on Sri Lankan Minister for Public Security Tiran Alles to withdraw the proposed Online Safety Bill and conduct sustained multi-stakeholder consultations, including with civil society and human rights experts. The latest version of the bill empowers a five-member commission appointed by the…

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Two Sri Lankan journalists questioned, harassed following protest coverage

New York, November 8, 2023—Sri Lankan authorities must immediately drop any investigation into freelance Tamil journalists Punniyamoorthy Sasikaran and Valasingham Krishnakumar in retaliation for their reporting and allow them to work without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On October 28, a police officer separately interrogated Sasikaran and Krishnakumar at their homes in…

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CPJ calls on Sri Lanka to reconsider bills likely to undermine press freedom

New York, October 18, 2023—Sri Lankan authorities should withdraw the proposed Online Safety Bill and Anti-Terrorism Bill or significantly amend them in line with international human rights standards, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. In parliament on October 3, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles tabled the Online Safety Bill, which would empower a five-member…

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Sri Lankan mob holds 3 journalists captive for 5 hours

New York, August 30, 2023—Sri Lankan authorities must investigate the recent harassment of freelance Tamil journalists Selvakumar Nilanthan, Valasingham Krishnakumar, and Antony Christopher Christiraj and hold the perpetrators responsible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Around 12:30 p.m. on August 22, approximately 50 Sinhalese men led by a Buddhist monk surrounded vehicles holding the…

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Sri Lankan police arrest, beat journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara

New York, July 28, 2023—Sri Lankan authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara and investigate allegations that he was beaten by police, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. At around 3 p.m. on Friday, July 28, police arrested Uduwaragedara after he covered a trade union protest in Borella, a suburb of the…

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Sri Lankan security forces detain, assault journalists covering political unrest

New York, July 27, 2022 – Sri Lankan authorities must thoroughly and swiftly investigate recent attacks on journalists by the country’s security forces, hold the perpetrators to account, and cease harassing the staff of Xposure News, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On the early morning of July 22, Sri Lankan security forces assaulted…

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Police attack News First journalists covering Sri Lanka protests

New York, July 11, 2022 – Sri Lankan authorities should thoroughly and transparently investigate the recent police attack on journalists covering anti-government protests, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On the evening of Saturday, July 9, members of the paramilitary police Special Task Force assaulted a reporting team…

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New details raise questions about whether Sri Lankan president was complicit in the killing of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge

Nishantha Silva is obsessed with details. The missing notebook. The unusual telephone number. The motorcycle tossed into a lake and the person who knew exactly where to find it.  Those details and others are the pointillist dots of color that Silva, formerly a detective with Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department, has assembled into a vivid…

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CPJ calls on Sri Lankan government to respect press freedom amid nationwide state of emergency

New York, April 4, 2022 – The government of Sri Lanka should respect press freedom, ensure unrestricted access to social media and communication platforms, and allow the media to work freely and independently during a nationwide state of emergency, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Friday, April 1, the Sri Lankan government declared…

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