Several media associations will hand over a petition to the National Police Commission on January 29, demanding punishment for those who suppressed the media and harassed journalists.
The media fraternity will also present an online petition to the Colombo office of the United Nations on the same day.
Implementing the law against those responsible for suppressing the media and harassing journalists was one of the promises by Maithripala Sirisena during the run-up to the Presidential Election in 2015. The spokesmen for the media associations said that after completing four years in office, President Sirisena had failed to punish any one and protected them.
Several media associations, such as the Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association, Free Media Movement, Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Union, Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance, Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum, Sri Lanka Young Journalists’ Association, Internet Media Activation and Journalists for Democracy have signed the petition.