Deliberate attack on media by police on the rise: Journalists unions

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana

Condemning the attack on journalist Shantha Perera at a protest in Mirihana last Friday, a collective of journalist unions yesterday said the deliberate police attack on media is on the rise since the March 31st protest outside ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s residence in Mirihana in 2022.

Several journalist unions wrote a letter to IGP Chandana Wickramaratne expressing their deep concerns on assaulting journalist Shantha Perera, who was engaged in his duties of covering the protest at Jubilee Post and Mirihana areas.

Television news channels also aired footage of the journalist being manhandled and assaulted by groups of policemen who were deployed to counter the protests in Mirihana on Friday (31), organised by the Aragalaya activists to mark the first anniversary of the ‘GotaGoHome’ Aragalaya, which erupted on March 31, 2022.

“We believe that it is the responsibility of every police officer committed to uphold law and order to let the journalists and media carry out their duties unhindered. In a context like that, when such journalists are being subjected to assault and harassment by the police is a gross violation of human rights,” the unions said.

“We have noticed, since March 31st, 2022 attacks on media, suppression and assault on independent journalists carrying out their duties in mass protest sites, smashing and damaging their gear like cameras, mobile phones, etc. and arresting media personalities have excessively gone up.

The progress or outcome of the inquiries of the police complaints of such incidents is not satisfying at all.”