RSF: Tension threatens journalists
No war-no peace situation prevailing in Sri Lanka is threatening journalists especially in the north and the east, international media watchdog has said.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the “dormant war” between the government forces and the Tamil Tigers has had “harmful consequences” for the safety of particularly Tamil journalists. ”Murders, arrests, threats and bombings have again become the daily lot for many reporters, particularly in the north and east of the country,” RSF annual report on Sri Lanka’s media freedom stated. Murdered journalists The media watchdog recalls that the police have abandoned investigations into the murder of Tamilnet editor Dharmeratnam Sivaram. “Four months later, the TV presenter Relangi Selvaraja was murdered in the capital. She produced programmes that were critical of the LTTE, broadcast on a public channel,” the statement added. RSF says the Tamil population’s basic rights have been violated as LTTE enforced a boycott in November 17 elections. Arson attack on The Sunday Leader and Irudina offices was another indication that the different view points were not tolerated by some in Sri Lanka, according to RSF. “A few weeks earlier, an ultra-nationalist leftist deputy, a member of the coalition government, called the editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickremetunge a "terrorist".