FMM raises concerns over Duminda Silva pressurizing journalist

March 17, 2022 at 2:45 PM

Journalist Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi has accused Chairman of the National Housing Development Authority and former Member of Parliament R. Duminda Silva of exerting undue pressure.

In a statement, the Free Media Movement said Journalist Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi says that he was pressured to withdraw from his media engagement by MP R. Duminda Silva. 

The organization said speaking from the phone number 0772624202, Duminda Silva has said that he is the younger brother of the owner of the Hiru channel Rayynor Silva and had pressured the journalist to refrain from recording the footage of the Ambalantota sand smuggling incident.

The audio recording of the phone call has also been sent to the Free Media Movement and Rahul Samantha says that it has been confirmed that it was Duminda Silva’s phone number.

The Free Media Movement is of the view that such an incident cannot be underestimated in a context where Duminda Silva is the head of a state institution as well as a person with strong political connections currently released on a presidential pardon while serving his sentence for the murder of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra.

The Free Media Movement said it is also of the view that Duminda Silva, exerting such pressure on a journalist, as a person involved in the ownership of a media institution, is an appalling incident that shows the extent of the undue interference in the media freedom landscape in Sri Lanka.

It is a very serious matter when such a situation develops after government agencies involved in Rahul Samantha’s reporting provide information about him to racketeers and other parties. 

Therefore, the Free Media Movement has urged the government to look into this matter immediately. (NewsWire)