{"id":50325,"date":"2016-12-13T21:01:32","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T02:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=50325"},"modified":"2016-12-13T21:03:41","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T02:03:41","slug":"defence-ministry-launches-probe-into-navy-chief-ravindra-wijeguneratnes-alleged-assault-on-journaist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=50325","title":{"rendered":"Defence Ministry Launches Probe into Navy Chief Ravindra Wijeguneratne’s Alleged assault on Journalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Defence Ministry has launched an investigation into the alleged attack on a journalist by Navy Chief Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijeguneratne, the Sri Lanka Navy confirmed yesterday, even as local media watchdogs and activists called for legal action against the Commander. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Navy Spokesman Captain Akram Alawi told Daily FT that the Defence Ministry had initiated an inquiry into the alleged assault on the journalist, and confirmed that the reporter had breached the security cordon which had resulted in the tension on Sunday (11). The Navy would make no further comment on the incident until the inquiry was complete, the Spokesman noted. <\/p>\n

Vice Admiral Wijeguneratne refused to comment on the incident when contacted by Daily FT yesterday, but said he would be making his statement on what transpired at the Hambantota Port on Sunday during the inquiry. <\/p>\n

The Navy Chief was caught on camera assaulting a television reporter Roshan Gunesekera and abusing him in foul language even after he identified himself as a journalist. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Vice Admiral Wijeguneratne led the Sri Lanka Navy team that arrived in the harbour by boat on Sunday to release the Japanese-owned merchant vessel that had been seized by protesting workers, delaying its departure by four days.<\/p>\n

The Navy Spokesman said that the Navy Commander was the Competent Authority under the International Ship and Ports Facility Security code, a post-9\/11 amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention on minimum security arrangements for ships, ports and government agencies, that governs situations like the ship seizure by the dock workers at the Hambantota Port last week. <\/p>\n

The Spokesman said that while a representative of the Competent Authority \u2013 the Navy Chief \u2013 was stationed in ports around the island, the Vice Admiral had led the operation at the Hambantota Port personally because of the volatile nature of the situation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe seizure can be termed an act of piracy because nobody can seize vessels either at sea or in harbour without the necessary authority,\u201d Captain Alawi said. <\/p>\n

The Government meanwhile has reemphasised that it condemns the assault on a journalist covering the Hambantota dock workers\u2019 strike in the strongest possible terms. <\/p>\n

Government Information Department Director General Dr. Ranga Kalansooriya came in for a storm of criticism after his initial statement on Sunday reacting to the assault said the journalist had failed to adhere to \u201cbasic ethics\u201d in covering volatile situations, even as he also condemned the attack and said the Government had already launched an investigation into the incident. <\/p>\n

The Free Media Movement and the Young Journalists Association have called for a full investigation and legal action against the Navy Chief over the assault on the reporter. Several media rights activists criticised the Government Information Department statement which appeared to blame the journalist for provoking the attack, and said video footage of the incident did not match the Government narrative. <\/p>\n

But on Monday, Dr. Kalansooriya stood by his statement, saying that the journalist had breached a security cordon created by naval officers in their attempts to release the foreign vessel. <\/p>\n

The Director General noted that the journalist had breached the security cordon and moved away from the rest of his colleagues from the press and refused to heed the advice of naval personnel who had insisted journalists remain in one particular place for their own safety. \u201cThis journalist moved away from his colleagues and tried to do a different job,\u201d Dr Kalansooriya said. <\/p>\n

The Government official was also strongly critical of news organisations which force provincial correspondents like Gunesekera into fierce competition with other reporters to earn a living. The incident emphasised the importance of training for provincial correspondents to ensure they pursue their profession in safety, Dr. Kalansooriya, a former media rights activist, asserted. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily FT<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Defence Ministry has launched an investigation into the alleged attack on a journalist by Navy Chief Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijeguneratne, the Sri Lanka Navy confirmed yesterday, even as local media watchdogs and activists called for legal action against the Commander. Navy Spokesman Captain Akram Alawi told Daily FT that the Defence Ministry had initiated …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Defence Ministry Launches Probe into Navy Chief Ravindra Wijeguneratne’s Alleged assault on Journalist’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50325"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50327,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50325\/revisions\/50327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}