Threats on Tharindu's brave role as a journalist - FREE EXPRESSION AT STAKE IN CRITICAL SRI LANKAN INTIMIDATION CASE

Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the Easter Sunday bombings, after the inquiry found that a senior deputy inspector general of police (SDIG) Deshabandu Tennakoon had not fulfilled his duties during the attack and was recommending a disciplinary inquiry.

- Ruki Fernando

Tharindu Jayawardhana is one of Sri Lanka’s most outstanding and promising young journalists. His writings and MediaLK, the news website he founded in 2019, are noted for highlighting some of the most critical injustices and rights violations faced by numerous ethnic minorities in the country, such as Tamils and Muslims. But concerningly, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Mass Media is currently refusing the registration of MediaLK, due to lack of clearance from the Ministry of Defence and a formal complaint lodged with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka is pending.

The complaints are not only a concern for a respected and brave young journalist known for uncovering important stories, but also in terms of the greater implications for freedom of expression in Sri Lanka when journalists can be intimidated and threatened (as Tharindu has) for reporting in the public interest.

Tharindu started his journalistic career at popular daily newspaper Lankadeepa, where he wrote detailed features on the environment, corruption and human rights. Together with another colleague, he also wrote controversial exposés in the column Investigating the Truth. In his journalism, he is well known for his extensive use of the Right to Information (RTI) and won a special award for utilizing the RTI Act for public objectives and the well-being of society at an event celebrating international RTI day organised by the Ministry of Mass Media and earned an award for best feature using RTI and ‘Scoop of the Year’ at Editors Guild of Sri Lanka awards. A published book author, Tharindu has also documented the community struggle for water in Rathupaswela and the killing of three people during a protest in 2013.