SRI LANKA: Authorities fail to investigate death threats and intimidation of a journalist
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION-URGENT APPEAL PROGRAMME -March 18, 2014
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Wiki Wikramarathna, a freelance journalist, videographer and blogger is under threat of death. Mr. Wikramarathna learned about a Singhala New Year Festival being organised by the Civil Security Committee of the Udyana Ward, Dehivala. This committee comes under the Ministry of Defense and the festival was organised with the permission of the chief incumbent of the temple, under the auspices of the Dehivala Police and on the patronage of the Dehivala mayor & municipal councilors. During the festival Mr. Wikramarathna, along with another person, covertly videotaped several married women dancing erotically to fast music wearing slippers inside the sermon hall of the Galvihara temple, in front of a statue of the Buddha.
When Mr. Wikramarathna made a video out of this clip and uploaded it to various social media platforms he was physically abused and threatened with death by the secretary of the committee, Sunil Shantha, of ‘Vendesivaththa’, Dehivala and others who stated that they were ‘Gota’s men’ (‘Api Gotage (We are here for the Secretary of Defense, Gotabhaya Rajapaksha).
Mr. Wikramarathna lodged a complaint with the Superintendant of Police, Mount Lavinia, and during the inquiry the Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr. Ginige, forced him to remove that video from the Internet even without examining it, just on the ‘hearsay’ of the 9 members who barged in to the ASP’s office showing the screenshots of the video.
This is a blatant example of the intimidation of a journalist by private persons acting with the protection of state officers. Despite having made a complaint with regard to the physical abuse and death threats no action has been taken against the perpetrators.
This case is yet another illustration of the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in the country.
