8 October 2008

JOURNALIST KILLED IN BOMB BLAST


A journalist was killed last week when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a crowded political party office in northern Sri Lanka, report the Free Media Movement (FMM) and four other local media organisations.

Rashmi Mohamed, a correspondent for Sirasa TV, was covering the unveiling of the new office of the United National Party in Anuradhapura, northern Sri Lanka, when a bomb exploded. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 27 people were killed in the blast, including the leader of the opposition of the North Central Provincial Council, Major General Janaka Perera. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reports that Perera was the intended target. Nearly 80 people were injured.

"Our organisations have time and again expressed our complete rejection of the use of violence as a way of resolving social and political issues. We condemn this heinous attack on unarmed civilians as a crime against humanity," said FMM, along with the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA), the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF) and the Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists Alliance (SLTJA).

They are urging the government to initiate an impartial and speedy inquiry into the bombing.

Visit these links:
- FMM: http://tinyurl.com/3wr57r
- IFJ: http://tinyurl.com/493ate
- CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/5xt54q
(8 October 2008)



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Sri Lanka

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