In the wake of persistent allegations of high-level corruptions in military procurements, media watchdogs rang alarm bells last week over moves by the Sri Lankan government to ban reporting on defence purchases.
Meanwhile, the government forced three journalists, including two Britons, to leave the north of the country, denying them access to areas affected by the war.
The Free Media Movement (FMM), local media watchdog said last week it “reliably learns that the government is preparing to promulgate new Emergency Regulations to impose a general prohibition on investigative reporting and media coverage in respect of issues relating to defence procurement.”
The FMM demanded the government to either confirm or deny the existence of such draft regulations and requested the government to desist from such regressive actions and to immediately reconsider its policy now and in the future if it intends to go ahead with the draft document.
The organization maintains that the proposed piece of legislation following a series of acts of harassment against senior journalist Iqbal Athas for reporting on allegations of malpractice and possible corruption in the procurement of military aircraft, casts serious doubts on the motivation behind the move, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.
“FMM is gravely concerned that the motivation for enacting the new regulations is not the legitimate protection of national security interests, but a clear attempt at silencing the media and to forestall investigations into future allegations of bribery, corruption and malpractice,” the media body says.
“FMM records its alarm that the government is planning measures which are not only inconsistent with constitutionally protected fundamental rights in Sri Lanka, but also represent clear violations of international standards and best practice relating to permissible limitations on freedom of speech during a time of conflict,” it further states.
Meanwhile, three female journalists, including two journalists from UK based Quicksilver Media and a Sri Lankan journalist accompanying them, were forced to return to Colombo after the Sri Lanka Army cancelled their documentary mission.
An hour after arriving at a hotel in Jaffna city, with military escort, they were taken back to Palaali air base where they had to stay overnight before returning to Colombo next day.
The SLA officers in Palaali, upon the arrival of the documentary team, had offered accommodation in a military camp, but the journalists had declined to accept the offer, TamilNet reported.
Reporter Sandra Jordan, Director Siobhan Sinnerton of Quicksilver Media and a Sri Lankan journalist, upon their arrival to Jaffna at Palaali airport, were briefed by a SLA Brigade Commander on the security situation in Jaffna before they were allowed to proceed to Jaffna city.
However, an hour after they arrived at Thinakkural Rest, the hotel where they were preparing for a documentary work, they were instructed by the SLA soldiers to return to Palaali military base with immediate effect, citing security reasons.
The journalists, despite their explanation that they had obtained clearance from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence, were taken back to the military complex.
The documentary team was scheduled to stay in Jaffna till October 7 and to visit various places including the islets.
The following morning the SLA took the journalists on a guided two-hour trip to Jaffna city, where they were taken to Jaffna hospital and to the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission, before they were returned to Palaali airport.
Although they were allowed to video their guided tour, they were unable to freely interview people without the presence of military personnel.
Quicksliver Media has produced powerful documentaries for Britain’s Channel 4’s award-winning foreign affairs strand "Unreported World" featuring conflicts of Afganistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, South Africa, Nigeria, Guatamala, West Papua and Mexico.
It has won the prestigious Royal Television Society Award for International Current Affairs for the documentary "The Death Squads," a hard hitting investigation into Iraq's death squads.
