Black January 16th Commemoration; A leftist government should be more mindful of media freedom – media activists

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

A leftist government should be more mindful of media freedom prevailing in a country than any other political authority and it is high time probes into atrocities against journalists are performed, media activists commemorating ‘Black January’ movement opined yesterday.    The incumbent government vowed the Sri Lankan media fraternity before coming into power that the law would be exercised to bring justice to a number of journalist deaths, abductions, assaults, enforced disappearances or forced into exile, since the latter part of the war.  

However, this has never been the reality for the past three months where the probes into journalist atrocities are yet to be initiated, the activists said.    Several dozen journalists, media personalities and civil society activists gathered to mark their protest and commemorate the ‘Black January’ movement organised by the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) last evening at Colombo Fort.    President SLWJA journalist Duminda Sampath said justice for the slain media personalities like Richard De Zoysa, Lasantha Wickrematunge, Taraki Sivaram, Sampath Lakmal de Silva, disappeared cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda, assaulted journalists Keith Noyahr, Poddala Jayantha should finally be brought as people had much expectations in this government.    “It has been 16 years since the end of the war to date and these activists never expected to run another Black January in this year thinking the political authority would intervene in the correct time,” Sampath said.    The participants signed a special petition to be handed over to the government at the event.   
Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshana