Compensation Soon for 44 Slain Media Persons: PM

13/12/2015

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday suggested a compensation scheme for families of journalists and other media persons killed while on duty.

Mr. Wickremesinghe speaking during the committee stage budget debate on the allocation for the Ministry of Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs said a compensation plan would be implemented for 44 media persons, who were killed during the period of the former regime due to political reasons. A majority of them were from the North.

The Premier said President Maithripala Sirisena was also supporting the compensation plan which would be implemented soon.

He praised media organisations and journalists, especially in the North, for the continuous struggle to provide information to the people despite regular threats during the previous regime.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said he believed working journalists should receive university level training on the professional dimensions of their work so that the media could play their rightful role in sustaining democracy.

Some journalists could even be sent to colleges of journalism in India, he said
ST