Press freedom in Sri Lanka

Ripley’s believe it or not put in the shade -Revealing who banned LeN imperils national security !!

By Lakshman I. Keerthisinghe-2017-12-16

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a State of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe."

― Thomas Jefferson, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, Volume 9.
Media reported that a Seminar on 'Reinforcing Regional Cooperation to Promote Freedom of Expression and the Rule of Law in Asia through Ending Impunity for Crimes against Journalists' was organized by UNESCO and the Ministry of Media on 4 December in Colombo. It is significant that UNESCO is the UN agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Since 2012, it has spearheaded the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, a systematic and UN-wide Plan to work toward a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers, with a view to strengthen peace, democracy and sustainable development worldwide, in both conflict and non-conflict situations.

As Mikhail Bulgakov, Author of Manuscripts Don't Burn and A Life in Letters and Diaries stated: "To struggle against censorship, whatever its nature, and whatever the power under which it exists, is my duty as a writer, as are calls for freedom of the press. I am a passionate supporter of that freedom, and I consider that if any writer were to imagine that he could prove he didn't need that freedom, then he would be like a fish affirming in public that it didn't need water." Director for freedom of expression and media development of UNESCO, Guy Berger noted that the importance of safety of journalists and ending impunity are recognized in the Sustainable Development Goal 16 on "Peace, Justice and Strong Institution . (...) This Goal calls for the promotion of the rule of law and equal access to justice for all, as well as ensuring public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms," he said. Around 150 national, regional and international stakeholders from over 20 countries participated in the one-day event, the first meeting of its kind in a South Asian country and the main event of the commemoration of the "International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (DEI-2017)."

Commenting on the event, Sri Lankan journalist Sonali Samarasinghe said: "The rule of law is the fulcrum upon which a fair and just society rests and it must work in tandem with the independence of the judiciary, separation of powers and freedom of expression if we are to tread a path of peace and accountability." Samarasinghe, the widow of Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga, who received UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize after he was killed in 2009, added:

"The State has a duty to guarantee that the violations we have experienced as a nation do not recur and a special duty to reform those institutions that have proven incapable of preventing the abuses". Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe opening the Seminar stated: "The media is the first line of defence against those who seek to undermine our democracy. (...) As a promise to the media, we will investigate and bring to justice those that have ended the lives of our journalists, and send a very clear message that this government will protect the journalists by all measures at hand." Although such promises have been made many a time in the past too it is regrettable that justice to slain journalists in Sri Lanka appear to be slow in becoming a reality. Justice delayed is justice denied. Between 2006 and 2016, 107 journalists have been killed in Asia according to UNESCO statistics, but only 7% of these cases have been judicially resolved.

In conclusion, it is important that in the case of Sinha Ranathunga v. The State {2001}2Sri LR 172, the Court of Appeal held as follows: 'The press is all about finding the truth and telling it to the people. In pursuit of that, it is necessary that the press should have the broadest possible freedom of the press. In other words there should be very limited control over the newspapers. Otherwise wrongdoing would not be disclosed. Charlatans would not be exposed. Unfairness would go un-remedied. Misdeeds in the corridors of power in government and private institutions will never be known. However, with that great gift of freedom of the press, comes great responsibility. In other words the more powerful the press is, it should also be a responsible press which will not abuse the enormous power it has.' As Horace Greeley stated: "Journalism will kill you, but it will keep you alive while you're at it." "A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself."

(The writer is an Attorney-at-Law with LLB, LLM, MPhil.(Colombo) keerthisinghel@yahoo.co.uk