Sri Lanka
Newly-appointed deputy media minister notorious for poor treatment of journalistsPosted May 3 2010
Parliament confirmed Mervyn Silva’s appointment as the new deputy media minister on April 23 despite numerous reports of Silva verbally attacking journalists and helping plan physical attacks on reporters.
According to Reporters Without Borders, Silva led an attack on state-owned TV station SLRC in December 2007. In the weeks following the assault, Silva’s supporters attacked five SLRC employees.
Also in 2007, Silva encouraged his followers to beat up journalists, including a BBC reporter, during a peace rally near Colombo.
“This time I lift a finger but the next time I will lift a hand if you come back,” he said, after his supporters threatened Sirasa TV workers who were covering the re-opening of a bridge near Colombo destroyed by the 2004 tsunami.
According to BBC, Silva said he would protect reporters and urged them to be balanced in their reporting.
“When I watch some channels they always show the holes in the roads but never show the repaired ones – please show the repaired roads,” he said in a BBC report.