Public petition for right to information

Wednesday, 07 May 2014 

The signing of a public petition calling to ratify the right to information was held in front of the Fort Railway station on 05 th May.

The event was organised by the Action committee for media freedom to mark the World Press Freedom Day, which fell on May 03.

A group of parliamentarians from the United National Party, Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna and Tamil National Alliance signed the petition.

Leading opposition politicians Karu Jaysuriya, Tissa Attanayaka, Mangala Samaraweera, Eran Wickremeratne, Ruwan Wijewardena, Harsha de Silva, Wickramabahu Karunaratne, Mano Ganesan, S. Sumandiran, K.D. Lal Kantha and Sunil Handunneththi as well as representatives of Trade unions and civil organisations attended the event.

The petition was initially signed by senior journalist Saman Wagaarachchi, who was compelled to resign from his post as Lakbima editor yesterday due pressures of an opposition MP and a government bigwig. Wagaarachchi had reportedly irked the ire of this government bigwig after initiating a collective movement for media freedom.