Sri Lankan police raid news website, arrest 9
Jun 29, 2012, 1:15 PM
Associated Press
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) – Sri Lankan police arrested nine journalists and seized computers and documents from the office of an independent news website Friday, said a media rights group in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists.
Police said they had a court warrant to act against
http://www.srilankamirror.combut did not explain the reasons for the arrests, said Gnanasiri Kottigoda, the president of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, a local media rights group.
The site was among five blocked by the government last year in a move criticized internationally as a violation of media freedom. A court settlement restored access to
http://www.srilankamirror.coma month later.
Friday’s police action clearly shows that “the government has not stopped its campaign to harass and intimidate the independent media institutions and journalists in Sri Lanka,” Kottigoda said.
More than a dozen police officers surrounded the office in Kotte, on the outskirts of the capital, Colombo, and searched the premises for about three hours, he said.
They seized computers and documents and drove away the nine journalists, including the website editor and four women, in police vehicles, said Kottigoda and an eyewitness who asked not to be named.
Even if the website published false information or caused character assassination, Sri Lanka has ways to take legal action and punish them. Without doing so, using police to raid offices of independent media institutions can’t be acceptable, Kottigoda said.
“We see this as a move to silence the independent media in Sri Lanka,” he added.
A police spokesman did not return calls seeking comment Friday.
Last year, authorities blocked
http://www.srilankamirror.comand four other websites over alleged character assassination, and the action is still in effect for the four others.
After the website filed a case in the Supreme Court, Sri Lanka’s Telecommunication Regulatory Authority agreed to unblock
http://www.srilankamirror.comon condition that it would not provide links to sites that are blocked or unregistered.
The blocking of the websites drew wide criticism from media rights groups and countries, such as the United States.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said Sri Lanka was the fourth most dangerous country for journalists in 2010.
Amnesty International says at least 14 Sri Lanka media workers have been killed since the beginning of 2006.
Media rights groups blame the government for failing to properly investigate several attacks on journalists and media institutions and arrest the culprits.
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