22 November, Colombo: Facing a barrage of criticism for recent attacks on newspaper offices, Sri Lankan government has assured of free and fair probe into such incidents.

The printing press of Leader Publication was destroyed on Wednesday [21 November] by an armed gang which stormed the building on the outskirts of Colombo and torched the machines, police said.

According to witnesses, at least 12 masked men carrying weapons allegedly threatened the staff at the building located in Ratmalana and set it afire.

Asserting that the government was in no way involved in the recent attacks on publications, Minister of Media Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told reporters Wednesday evening that President Mahinda Rajapakse had asked the authorities to spare no effort in bringing to book the culprits who had set fire to the press situated in the high security zone.

The minister said he wanted to make it clear that the Centre [federal government] had no hand in the recent attacks on media institutions.

He referred to the attack on Ugaya Publishers last week which had very recently started publishing a paper called Siyalaka. This publication had a very limited circulation and published only two editions, he said.

On the Wednesday's attack, the minister said that investigations were being conducted on the president's personal advice.

"It was his (president's) concern that no attempt should be spared in this direction since it was a threat to national security as well," Abeywardena said.

The minister condemned the act of arson and the earlier attack on Ugaya Publishers and assured a free and fair investigation.

A local rights group, the Free Media Movement (FMM), said it was outraged by the attack and held the Government responsible for failing to protect the publishing house.

"The culture of impunity that prevails in this country has prevented any meaningful inquiry into all acts of violence against media and journalists that have taken place under this government," the group spokesman Sunanda Deshapriya said in a statement.

The Sri Lanka Press Institute and the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka also condemned the attack.

Opposition leader opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe termed the attack on the Leader Publications press as a blow to media freedom and democracy in the country.

In a statement, the opposition leader said: "The junta ruling the country today has delivered another deadly blow to democracy."

"There are road blocks at every entry point to this zone. Nobody can gain easy access to this zone. It would be extremely difficult to enter this area at night," he said.

"The United National Party vehemently condemns threats against media freedom. We will commit ourselves to upholding media freedom," Wickramasinghe said.

Source: PTI news agency, New Delhi, in English 0000gmt 22 Nov 07

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