Batticaloa journalists remember murdered colleagues on World Press Freedom Day

by Sharmini
May 3, 2022

Batticaloa journalists marked World Press Freedom Day with a vigil to pay tribute to the media workers that have been killed in Sri Lanka.

The journalists lit candles and laid flowers in tribute to their murdered colleagues. 

Press freedom has been a worrying concern on the island where Tamil journalists have faced reprisals for speaking out against and highlighting issues faced by Tamils in the North-East. They have frequently found themselves targeted with surveillance, threats, acts of violence, and even death. According to Together Against Genocide, from 2004 to 2009, over 48 journalists and media workers were reported killed, 41 of whom were Tamil.

Media repression in the North-East has escalated since the appointment of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka’s president in 2019, with an increase in incidents of Tamil journalists facing state surveillance, intimidation and violence. 

Sri Lanka has dropped 19 places in Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index and is currently 146th out of 180 countries.  

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