President Maithripala Sirisena on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, condemned the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, while addressing the awards ceremony for Investigative Journalism funded by the State Department of the United States of America and conducted by the Institute of War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), which was held at the BMICH last evening.
The President also said that such incidents should not take place anywhere in the world again.
President Sirisena said that after he was elected to office that inasmuch as the people’s freedom, democratic rights, human rights and fundamental rights have been ensured and the government has also done much to ensure media freedom. In the past three or four decades, journalists have been harassed, murdered or forced in to exile. “From the day I assumed office up to date, no journalist had been killed or harassed,” the President said.
The President also said that he had appointed a committee to look into the grievances of our journalists, but it was questionable as to why the recommendations made had not been implemented. He also ensured the journalists that he would take it upon himself to seek solutions to all issues put forward to him by them. President Sirisena handed over awards to the ten journalists who had published the best Investigative Reports under the programme.
Karunarathna Gamage, President of the Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions (FMETU), and its Secretary Dharmasiri Lankapeli and Allan Davis IWPR’s Director for Asia and Eurasia, addressed the gathering.