No Longer A Black Spot For Press Freedom; But All Journalist Murders Still Unsolved

By Johan Mikaelsson –April 28, 2016

Johan Mikaelsson

Sri Lanka is no longer regarded a black spot for press freedom, but all killings and disappearances during the dark years remain unsolved. April 28 2005, the most influential Tamil journalist, Dharmeratnam Sivaram, was abducted and shot dead.

His body was found in a high-security zone near the parliament building in Kotte. It had a discouraging effect on Tamils and colleagues and friends in the media. Several more journalists, and workers active in the chain of spreading news and information were to pay the ultimate price the years that followed. Their families and friends were left with grief and fear.

Many citizens, not all, took big leaps of joy in 2015, as the leader and his government was voted out of office. This reflects in the Paris-based media watch-dog Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, released a couple of weeks ago: Sri Lanka advances from place 165 to 141. It’s a serious situation, but things are moving in the right direction.

The relief was even visible in the faces of the journalists I met during my two visits to the island in 2015. Before the parliamentary elections on August 17, there were still some doubts. Some polls showed that a majority of Sinhalese still supported Mahinda Rajapaksa, who said he would come back as Prime Minister – to set things straight.

Dharmeratnam Sivaram – Photo Johan Mikaelsson

It didn’t happen. Voters consolidated the power shift that took place after the presidential elections on January 8, 2015. President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged to continue the work for greater freedom of expression and press freedom. All the problems have clearly not been resolved.

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