Less than a month after the Minister of Mass Media and Information regretted the summoning of mainstream journalists in the South to the police, three journalists have been summoned to the CID for revealing to the country about an attempt to re-impose the dog tax imposed during the colonial period.
The CID has been summoned three journalists who reported on a paper submitted by the Dambulla Municipal Council proposing a dog tax on pets kept in homes in the Municipal Council area from January 2022. The media has reported that three electronic, print and web reporters Mahinda Udayasiri, Sarath Eraminigammana and Lakshitha Wijesekera have been summoned for questioning.
Journalist Sarath Eraminigammana, who arrived in Colombo on Friday (November 12) on a summons from the CID, told reporters in the capital that the summons had been issued following a complaint lodged by Dambulla Mayor Jaliya Opatha on September 10. Sarath Eraminigammana emphasized that, today journalists are unable to engage in journalism based on the sources available to them and also questioned whether this is democracy in the country?.
Journalist Sarath Eraminigammana further stated that this is a regretful situation. Earlier, when Island and Lankadeepa editors and journalists were summoned to the CID, Media Minister Dallas Daham Alahapperuma, not only took steps to prevent it but also apologized for the incident.
Minister Alahapperuma had stated to the media that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as well as Minister In charge of Police Sarath Weerasekara had stated that “journalists should never be summoned to the police or to the CID for questioning”. It is reported that the Minister has not intervened regarding the three journalists Mahinda Udayasiri, Sarath Eraminigammana and Lakshitha Wijesekera, so far.
Two journalists from the North and East, Navaratnam Kapilanath and Y. L. Mabrook, were also summoned to the Terrorism Investigation Division recently. The Minister of Mass Media and Information has remained silent regarding this also.