Expose: Full List Of The Free Laptop Journos; Media Minister Lied To Parliament

December 21, 2013 |

Journalists from virtually every mainstream media in the country with the exception of the Sunday Times newspaper have accepted laptops and car loans or both from the Rajapaksa regime, a Colombo Telegraph investigation has revealed.

A free Laptop from President to Daily News Editor Rajpal Abeynayake

According to statements made by Media MinisterKeheliya Rambukwella in Parliament during the budget debateon the Media Ministry earlier this month, 496 journalists have been awarded laptops by the Government, proof that the regime is ‘media friendly’. In fact the file is inColombo Telegraph‘s possession indicates that only 403 laptops have in fact been awarded and not all of them to journalists, indicating that the Media Minister has in fact misled the House on the issue.

The Minister’s leaked files now in possession of the Colombo Telegraph prove that only 136 mainstream journalists and 30 provincial correspondents have been awarded laptops by the regime and noted by name. 11 of those provincial correspondents are from the Media Minister’s electorate of Kandy while nine chosen correspondents are from President Rajapaksa’s Hambantota. The other 237 recipients are believed to be Ministerial aides and supporters who cannot be identified as journalists. No explanation can be found for the missing 93 laptops from the Minister’s file.

Several senior editors of newspapers in Sri Lanka have also accepted the interest-free car loans and the free laptop from the Government, the Colombo Telegraph investigation has revealed.

Speaking to the Colombo Telegraph Sunday Times Editor Sinha Ratnatunge said that his news editor had informed him that a letter had arrived informing him that there was a laptop allocated to him. He had been asked to attend a ceremony to receive the laptop, the letter had said. However Ratnatunge said he had decided not to accept the laptop from the Government or attend the ceremony.       Read More