DEFENCE MINISTRY TAKES CONTROL OF SRI LANKA RUPAVAHINI CORPORATION

Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) strongly condemns the President’s decision of taking over control of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation to the Ministry of Defence, as per the special Gazette Notification No. 2140/2.

SLWJA believes that the media freedom of Journalists who engage with independent journalism will be influenced by this decision and this could be affected to the professional rights of Journalists. On the other hand, this can be treated as an initial stage of threatening journalists.

Taking into consideration the up-coming elections including the presidential election,  SLWJA believes that this suspicious decision could be corrected by appointing a Cabinet Minister for Mass Media.

Further, SLWJA do not hesitate to stand against disturbances for media freedom created due to the ongoing situation among the president and the government.