Karu, Eran hit out at Govt’s media policy

•  Eran says Government needs to get out of the media’s way
• KJ claims Govt. needs to set an example with the state media before preaching ethical reporting to the free press

Opposition lawmakers fired salvos at the Government’s media policy during a heated debate on the amendments to the Press Council Act tabled in Parliament yesterday, saying the revival of the draconian legislation had to be viewed with the utmost suspicion given the issues faced by Sri Lanka’s media today.

United National Party National List Parliamentarian Eran Wickremaratne told the house during the debate that a bitter struggle for the freedom of expression and the freedom of information is underway even today. “The judiciary and the media are cornerstones of this struggle. The immoral and illegal impeachment of the country’s chief justice is now a part of the dark and tainted history of our country," Wickremaratne said.





"Under the circumstances the reactivation of the Press Council laws and the Government code of ethics for journalists must be viewed with utmost suspicion. Even ministers are only instruments of the drift towards a guided democracy, which in the case of some countries in the past have meant totalitarianism,” he added.

The opposition legislator emphasised that the issue dominating the media debate in Sri Lanka at present was not the problem of too much freedom. “The country ranks near the bottom of most press freedom indices compiled world over. Under the circumstances on what moral basis is the government contemplating further state regulation when the true need is for the state to get out of the way of the free press, stop leaning on editors and publishers and stop  buying out newspapers and channels?” he charged.

The UNP Parliamentarian criticised the revival of oppressive laws he said would further hamper the freedom of the press. “A supplicant judiciary will now ensure state media is insulated from the danger of the laws while the independent media will report with the sword of Damocles over its head. A free press and independent judiciary are the enemies of totalitarianism. The attempts at subjugation of these two vital democratic organs offer the best clues about the direction the incumbent regime is taking,” he said. 

According to Wickremaratne the media already had the necessary tools for self-regulation, in terms of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka and the Editors Guild that has enforced a code of ethics for journalists. He said the UNF Government of 2001-2004 under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had repealed criminal defamation laws and attempted to enact freedom of information laws, but added that “very little had happened since then.”

Wickremaratne said that Sri Lanka was the only country in South Asia that was yet to enact this legislation that he said were the founding stones of transparent and open government.

Citing Sri Lanka’s rankings in the major global press freedom and impunity rankings Wickremaratne said international media rights groups had noted that the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa had shown no interest in pursuing the perpetrators in nine journalist murders over the past decade. “All of the victims had reported on politically sensitive issues in ways that were critical of the Rajapaksa government,” Wickremaratne said quoting from a report by the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists.  

Also speaking during the debate, former UNP Deputy Leader and vociferous media freedom activist Karu Jayasuriya said 22 journalists have been killed since the current Government assumed power. “Lasantha Wickrematunge was murdered, Poddala Jayantha, Keith Noyahr, Upali Tennakoon and many other journalists were subject to brutal assaults. In none of these cases has the Government been able to apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators. Therefore it is clear who the political masters behind these attacks are,” Jayasuriya charged in a hard-hitting speech.

He said the Government’s present handling of the state media; with its partisan, defamatory and unethical reporting did not inspire confidence in the regime’s ability to create a free and independent media environment.

“What we would tell the Government is to walk the talk, by firstly establishing a exemplary state media. It is then that wider society might have greater faith in the Government’s claims about wanting to establish reporting ethics. The UNF Government from 2001-2004 is a good example of how a Sri Lankan Government could improve the reporting environment. We committed ourselves towards media freedom. We held wide ranging consultations with the media fraternity, rights groups and civil society representatives,” he said.

Jayasuriya said the Sri Lanka Press Institute and the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka was established as a result of these discussions.

“Allowing the media to self-regulate is a feature of a mature democracy,” the senior UNP MP said.