CPJ shocked by Gota’s brazen call for censorship and defamation law

By Mendaka Abeysekera in New York
The New York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has severely criticised Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s recent comments on Sri Lanka’s media freedom.

According to a CPJ release, CPJ is alarmed by the Defence Secretary’s brazen public call to censor media reports and reintroduce criminal defamation laws.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who is the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, told the Sunday Lankadeepa that he advocated press censorship, harsh punishments for critical reporting on the military and military expenditures, and criminal defamation law.

“If I have the power, I will not allow any of these things to be written,” he said.

Commenting on Rajapaksa’s remarks, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said that this was an “open intimidation of the media.”

“The Sri Lankan press sorely needs space to report independently on the escalating instability in the country, free of government intimidation,” he stated in the CPJ release.

The CPJ release also pointed out that Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Rajapaksa threatened a journalist last year, however this was the first instance where his aggressive attitude toward the media had been publicly demonstrated.