Media rights bodies slam Ranil's statement

Colombo: Five media organisations in a joint communique over the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe's conduct at Monday's media briefing said Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Opposition Leader of the country has violated the rights of journalists to express their viewpoints through the media.

The Opposition Leader's response to a question raised by a journalist attached to the Daily Mirror at a press briefing cannot be accepted and he has set a wrong example to the society, the media organisations said.

"Politicians cannot bear views expressed by their opponents. This trend of being intolerant os deeply rooted in our society particularly among the political fraternity." "We as the media organisations call upon politicians and political movements to refrain from responding to media in an adverse manner and solve the problems with the media personnel in a democratic way. Journalists will be compelled to define this type of intimidation as a threat to media if this trend continues," they said.

The communique was issued by the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, Media Workers Union, Sri Lanka Muslim Journalists Association, Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists Association and the Free Media Movement.