Posted by Editor on March 12, 2026 – 1:06 pm
Web Media Motion (IMA) has expressed severe concern over the arrest of veteran journalist Sandaruwan Senadheera, who was taken into custody at Bandaranaike Worldwide Airport yesterday (March 11), after returning to Sri Lanka following practically 16 years of political asylum in the UK.
In a media launch issued at present (March 12), the media collective mentioned the arrest has raised issues about democracy and media freedom in Sri Lanka. Senadheera is the editor of the Lanka E Information web site.
Senadheera left Sri Lanka through the administration of Mahinda Rajapaksa after going through alleged loss of life threats and a sequence of incidents affecting journalists. These included the disappearance of journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda and an arson assault on the Lanka E Information workplace on January 30, 2011.
IMA said that whereas residing overseas, Senadheera continued publishing content material by the Lanka E Information web site and expressed ideological help for Nationwide Individuals’s Energy (NPP) throughout its rise to energy.
Reviews point out that Senadheera was arrested as a suspect in reference to a authorized case filed underneath a earlier administration. Nevertheless, IMA mentioned the arrest has renewed issues amongst members of the Sri Lankan media neighborhood about whether or not political stress and suppression of journalists may reappear.
In its assertion, IMA urged authorities to make sure Senadheera’s private security and to conduct any authorized proceedings in a clear method with out political affect. The group additionally known as on the federal government to uphold freedom of expression and the skilled security of journalists.
IMA added that actions which resemble previous intervals of journalist persecution may pose a menace to democratic ideas. The group urged the authorities to intervene and be certain that justice is carried out.
Web Media Motion described itself as a media collective that screens current and rising threats to on-line media content material and freedom of expression on the web.
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