April 17, 2007
Posted April 25, 2007
Champika Liyanarachchi, Editor, Daily Mirror
THREATENED
Liyanarachchi said Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa called her to complain about Daily Mirror reporter Easwaran Rutnam’s coverage of sectarian fighting in Pottuvil in Ampara district. The article said that Tamil rebels belonging to the breakaway Karuna faction of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were freely moving weapons in the government-controlled area. Liyanarachchi said Rajapaksa told her “that she should not expect any security from the government to protect her” from possible retaliation from the rebels, according to the press freedom advocacy organization Free Media Movement, which spoke with Liyanarachchi shortly after the phone call.