http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/11/07/news/21.asp
Media freedom not on govt. agenda say media protesters By Supun Dias Five media organizations yesterday protested against the government's crackdown on Media Freedom in the country. Here they vehemently condemned action taken by the police to arrest Sunday Leader journalist Arthur Wamanan and the government's decision to cancel the license of five Radio stations belonging to the ABC group. They also condemned the shooting of Editor of the Ethalaya website. "The government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa is trying to protect democracy by abolishing media freedom" General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association, Poddala Jayantha said. Convener of the Health Services Association Saman Ratnapriya said "the government should take steps to protect media freedom; if not media organizations will take the necessary action against the government. President Federation of Media Employees, Dharmasiri Lankapeli said "Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe goes to Geneva and claims the government is committed to safeguarding Human Rights but on the other hand they suppress the rights of the media". The Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association, Free Media Movement, Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions, Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum and the Sri Lanka Tamil Journalist Alliance all took part in the protest.
