Sri Lankan journalists protest media suppression

Sri Lankan journalists, activists and opposition lawmakers have staged a protest, accusing the government of unleashing a new wave of media suppression and intimidation against dissenting journalists.

Dozens of protesters gathered in the capital, Colombo, on Thursday. They denounced a recent police raid on websites critical of the government, as well as the alleged attempted abduction of a journalist and secret police allegedly collecting journalists’ personal information.

Mr Sunil Jayasekara, a media rights activist who protested, said the government had begun ‘a new round to intimidate journalists and suppress the independent media’. The Committee to Protect Journalists says Sri Lanka was the fourth most dangerous country for journalists in 2010.

Amnesty International says at least 14 Sri Lankan media workers have been killed since the beginning of 2006.