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Media rights group slams comments made against Indian journalist in Colombo
25 Oct, 2018
A media rights group has slammed comments made against an Indian journalist based in Colombo after she reported on comments made by President Maithripala Sirisena at a cabinet meeting recently.
The Free Media Movement (FMM) said the allegations against The Hindu correspondent Meera Srinivasan by the Government and its supporters regarding her reportage about a statement made at the cabinet meeting go beyond the right of reply and have become a threat, violating media freedom and freedom of expression.
The Hindu newspaper had published a news report, under the by-line Meera Srinivasan, as President Maithripala Sirisena at a cabinet meeting had made a statement that RAW is engaged in activities to assassinate him. The news was denied by the President?s side. At the same time, The Hindu newspaper has maintained that this news was confirmed by four ministers.
The General Secretary of the United People?s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Mahinda Amaraweera later claimed that four Ministers were linked to RAW through the Indian correspondent and were providing information.
The Free Media Movement feels that the baseless allegation against a Colombo based foreign correspondent is an act of bullying and urged all concerned to respect the right of a journalist to conceal the source of information. (Colombo Gazette)
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