Sri Lanka
Court sets high bail for editor's releaselPosted Jul 20 2007
A delegation of news organizations dedicated to press freedom released a statement last month outlining their support for the struggling Sri Lankan media.
The International Press Freedom Mission, made up of groups such as Reporters Without Borders, the International Federation of Journalists and the South Asia Media Commission, among others, delivered the statement on the second to last day of a regional media conference in Sri Lanka from 17 to 23 June.
The conference follows an earlier report released by the IPF Mission on the state of journalism in the war-torn nation. Titled “Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression in Sri Lanka: Struggle for Survival”, the report concluded that the media, particularly the Tamil media, is under heavy and sustained attack, with a serious deterioration in the security of journalists including threats, abductions and attacks committed by the Sri Lankan government.
The April 2007 murder of Tamil journalist Chandrabose Suthaharan in the government-controlled town of Vavuniya is just one example of the challenges freedom of the press faces in the region.