Sri Lankan Government accused of killing Journalists   

Sri Lankan Government accused of killing Journalists   
By Ben Adam Shemang,

A Sri Lankan journalist, Mr Bashana Abeywarbane has accused the government of killing journalists.

Abeywarbane said that “…in the last five years, 26 journalists have been killed making it 5 journalists killed each year on the average.”

He said this in Bonn, Germany while addressing reporters at the 2011 Global Media Forum.

Targets

The Sri Lankan lamented that the international community was not doing enough to intervene on these alleged killings.

He stated that reporters, Editors and Publishers remained the main targets of the government.

Abeywarbane, who is on exile in Bonn, revealed that during the war, soldiers were very brutal and merciless, pointing out that the soldiers even filmed some killing incidents while the war lasted.

“Actually, the soldiers are now selling these video clips to the Tamir people who are living outside the country who are desperately looking for evidence to prove what happened to their people in the country” he said.

Soldiers as double agents

The journalist alleged that the soldiers are now double agents who killed innocent people and sell the clips of these gruesome murders to the victims’ relations who are gathering evidences to the United Nations.

The clips are said to be selling like hot cake because the soldiers simply tell those who lost loved ones “if you pay this amount, we give you the clips.”

It will be recalled that Sri Lankan government fought a 25 year war that ended in May, 2009.

Over 100,000 people were killed during the war.

Human Rights bodies are calling for UN probe of the killings while the war lasted.

Iheanacho