13 March 2001
FMM DENOUNCES CAMPAIGN AGAINST INDEPENDENT MEDIA
Sri Lankan state media are engaged in a "mud-slinging campaign" against the Free Media Movement (FMM) in an attempt to suppress news from the International Press Institute (IPI) annual assembly, according to FMM. The chair of the state-owned Lake House newspaper company attended the IPI meetings, which took place from 26 to 29 January in New Delhi, India. Yet the state media have failed to report that IPI decided to keep Sri Lanka on its "watch list" for another six months, says FMM [See IFEX "Communiques" #10-5 and #10-4]. Instead, they have spread misleading information about FMM's participation in the assembly and inaccurately reported that the Lake House chair prevented attempts to denigrate Sri Lanka at the meeting, according to FMM. The organisation believes that the distortion of the IPI proceedings and the attacks on FMM are "yet another example of the slander campaign being carried out by the state against the Sri Lanka media."">http://communique.ifex.org/articles.cfm?category=3%20Other%20News%20from%20the%20IFEX%20Community&volume=10&issue_no=5&lng=english#2769">IFEX "Communiques" #10-5 and #10-4]. Instead, they have spread misleading information about FMM's participation in the assembly and inaccurately reported that the Lake House chair prevented attempts to denigrate Sri Lanka at the meeting, according to FMM. The organisation believes that the distortion of the IPI proceedings and the attacks on FMM are "yet another example of the slander campaign being carried out by the state against the Sri Lanka media."
On 21 February, FMM also condemned the Sri Lankan government's use of violence to curtail freedom of expression. In one incident, "thugs" were unleashed on university students protesting government plans to end free education. In another case, the home of opposition activist Chandra Hettiarachchi, who mimicked President Kumaratunga at a recent protest march, was bombed. FMM says it has reason to believe that the attack was carried out by the Presidential Security Division. According to FMM, such actions "are a clear indication that the government is not ready to tolerate any criticism of its actions."
RSS