Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Sunday, October 20, 2013

UPFA politico arrested for threatening journalist

The Sundaytimes Sri LankaSunday, October 20, 2013
A UPFA Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) member from Medirigiriya was arrested for threatening a journalist who exposed illicit felling of trees on the pretext of flood control measures in the area.
The PS member, Nishantha Pradeep Kumara had telephoned the journalist and threatened him for reporting the news item. The member had not identified himself, but the journalist had recorded the call and noted the telephone number of the caller, enabling police to track down the member.
Police arrested the member and produced him before Polonnaruwa Magistrate U.D. Kulatunga, who later released him on surety bail of Rs 50,000.Journalist Roshan Thushara had reported that, on the pretext of stopping flood threats in Van ela, Kawdamulla in Medirigiriya, a number of Kumbuk trees had been felled.

A Sri Lankan Journalist Eagerly Toes the Line

New York Times
Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times
"In the end, you gravitate to a place where the management views are in consonance with yours," Rajpal Abeynayake said. "And I have gravitated to that place.”
By 
Published: October 18, 2013
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — He calls himself the Rush Limbaugh of Sri Lanka, “except I’m not as obnoxious.” His critics say he should be hanged from a lamppost.
Rajpal Abeynayake, 50, is the editor in chief of The Daily News, the country’s largest English-language daily newspaper, which is wholly owned by the government. He is also the host of a morning radio program, and the two platforms make him the most influential English-language journalist in Sri Lanka.
His position atop Sri Lanka’s journalistic firmament has been assured in part because those who have criticized the government in recent years have been killed, intimidated or forced into exile.
Such a fate is difficult to imagine for Mr. Abeynayake, a gushing admirer of Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the defense minister. But leading a government news media organ can be a precarious job; his predecessor at The Daily News lasted only two years.                     
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