{"id":57021,"date":"2012-10-20T09:48:35","date_gmt":"2012-10-20T09:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=57021"},"modified":"2012-10-20T09:53:36","modified_gmt":"2012-10-20T09:53:36","slug":"it-is-unbelievable-that-the-sunday-leader-has-apologised-to-gotabaya-says-article-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/it-is-unbelievable-that-the-sunday-leader-has-apologised-to-gotabaya-says-article-19\/","title":{"rendered":"It Is Unbelievable That The Sunday Leader Has Apologised To Gotabaya, Says ARTICLE 19"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Article 19<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a shocking turn of events, Sri Lankan newspaper The Sunday Leader has formally apologised to defence\u00a0secretary\u00a0Gotabaya Rajapaksa for reporting that the secretary had threatened the then editor with death.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr Agnes Callamard<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt is unbelievable that The Sunday Leader<\/a><\/span> has apologised in front of the Sri Lanka Press Council to defence \u00a0secretory\u00a0 \u00a0Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span> for reporting that the secretary had threatened former editor, Frederica Jansz<\/a><\/span> with death \u2013 even though she recorded his call and the minister admitted to making it,\u201d said Dr Agnes Callamard<\/a><\/span>, ARTICLE 19 executive director.<\/p>\n

\u201cSri Lanka is due to go before the UN Human Rights Council in two weeks time for its Universal Periodic Review, and member states must urgently raise the terrible increase in impunity which is being reinforced by the highest levels of government,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The Sunday Leader \u2013 once one of Sri Lanka\u2019s few remaining independent voices \u2013 was bought out by an ally of the president in September 2012. The new owner, Asanga Seneviratne<\/a><\/span> almost immediately sacked the newspaper\u2019s editor, Frederica Jansz, after she refused to prevent her reporters from criticising the government.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 19 warned the UN in April that affiliates of the president appeared to be buying up the private media in order to control their editorial lines, resulting in a severely reduced debate in a country that has only just emerged from conflict.<\/p>\n

In the\u00a0shadow report for the Universal Periodic Review of Sri Lanka<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 due in October 2012, ARTICLE 19 highlighted that media diversity and press freedom are under threat in Sri Lanka where affiliates of the president appear to be buying newspapers that criticise the government, in order to censor them.<\/p>\n

Jansz was threatened with death in July 2012. She was conducting an interview over the phone with Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa when he told her: \u201cYou pig that eats shit! You shit shit dirty fucking journalist! [\u2026] People will kill you! People hate you! They will kill you!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sunday Leader and its journalists have until now faced regular attack. The newspaper\u2019s editor, Lasantha Wickramatunge<\/a><\/span>, was assassinated on his way to work on 8 January 2009. Nobody has ever been prosecuted for the crime.<\/p>\n

Related posts;<\/p>\n

Bowed And Afraid: The Sunday Leader To Apologize To Gota For Calling Former Editor \u201cA Fucking Pig Who Eats Shit\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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