Criminalising Dissent In Warlike Electio
The Siblings have become past-masters at discouraging opposition and deterring dissent through selective acts of repression. The killing of Lasantha Wickrematunge is an excellent case in point. Attacks on media and media personnel (from website closures to arrests, abductions and killings) are causing the erosion of media freedom, from within.
l by Tisaranee Gunasekara
“These people don’t see that if you encourage totalitarian methods, the time may come when they will be used against you instead of for you”.Orwell (Proposed Preface to ‘Animal Farm’)
(08 July, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Long before the election is held, the first result is out.
Two anti-government websites were raided and their staffers arrested (including the tea-boy), within 48 hours of the dissolution of North-Central, Eastern and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Councils.
The muzzling of Sri Lanka Mirror and Lanka X News marks the commencement of a new anti-democratic wave. Neither website was illegal or clandestine; both were duly registered with the Media Ministry. Their sin, according to the Media Centre for National Security, was “propagating false and unethical news”.
These are not the only ‘sinners’ against Rajapaksa Rule; according to the MCNS, “Websites operated by certain quarters with vested interests are trying to bring disgrace to the country and the people, especially at a time when the country is undergoing a period of social and economic revival”.
As the election season advances, the regime will spread its dragnet ever wider.
