Advocates Called for Sri Lanka's Government to Respect Press Freedom Amid National Emergency
ådvocates, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have called on the Sri Lankan government to respect press freedom after the country’s president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, declared a nationwide state of emergency in response to demonstrations over its worst economic crisis in decades. Sri Lanka no longer has enough dollar reserves to buy essential items like food or fuel and residents deal with power blackouts that last for hours at a time.
The state of emergency came into effect on April 1. It allows authorities to arrest and imprison suspects without warrants. Rajapaksa has defended the state of emergency, saying it was made in the "interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community."
But according to CPJ, Sri Lankan authorities “arrested at least six journalists” outside Rajapaksa’s private residence in the Mirihana district of Colombo, the nation’s capital. The police and security forces arrested over 50 people at the protest, “used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators, and filed a complaint against over 50 individuals, including the six journalists,” CPJ noted. The journalists were accused of violating Section 120 of the penal code, which criminalizes the incitement of “feelings of disaffection” against the president or government.
The journalists who were detained are Sinhala-language television network Sirasa TV reporter Chatura Deshan; Derana TV reporter Sumedha Sanjeewa Gallage, who said he was assaulted by officers with the Special Task Force (STF) after he identified himself as a journalist; Awanka Kumara, who was reporting for Sirasa TV and had their video camera as police officers charged protesters with batons; Waruna Wanniarachchi, a reporter with the privately owned Sinhala-language daily newspaper Lankādeepa; Derana TV reporter Nishshanka Werapitiya, who sustained bruises to his face; and Pradeep Wickramasinghe, also with Derana TV, who sustained several bruises to his right arm after an assault.
“Sri Lanka must not use the state of emergency as a pretext to muzzle press freedom during this critical moment in the country’s history, when access to information is vital for all citizens,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Authorities must cease detaining and harassing journalists, allow the media to report safely and independently, and ensure unrestricted access to social media and communication platforms.”
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has also weighed in, noting that the government cut off social media access and that at least nine journalists were interested during protests at the hands of police and security forces.
“Consultation is the best way out of this type of crisis and, to that end, all actors must be able to benefit from the reliable, verified and updated reporting that it is journalists’ job to provide,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “This is why we are calling on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to immediately restore all communications on the island and to allow reporters to freely cover these historic protests. The attacks against them under the current state of emergency are absolutely unacceptable.”
Sri Lanka's minister for community police services, Dilum Amunugama, has defended the government’s response, saying authorities were responding to terrorist activity. "The government stance is that if terrorism prevails, it should be defeated,” he said.
Yesterday, Rajapaksa revoked the state of emergency after lawmakers walked out of Parliament, leaving his government with a minority. Protesters have called on him to step down but he has thus far refused. "As a responsible Government, we state President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not resign from his post under any circumstances,” Chief Government Whip Johnston Fernando told lawmakers.
