COLOMBO, SRI LANKA — Police on Thursday arrested the editor of a news website critical of the government in Sri Lanka for allegedly threatening a man, the Colombo Page reported.
News Editor of LankaeNews website, Bennet Rupasinghe, allegedly threatened a family member of a suspect in custody over a recent arson attack on the website office. He was arrested after police asked him to give a statement regarding the accusation.
Sudath Jayalath, brother of one of the suspects, told police that he had received threatening calls from Rupasinghe asking him to convince his brother to change the testimony before the trial.
The organization Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka urged the release of the journalist and labeled the move as an “act of intimidation against media freedom.”
“This is yet another act of intimidation against media freedom in general and Lankaenews in particular by the incumbent government of Sri Lanka,” the organization said in a statement.
An unidentified group in the early hours of January 31 broke in and set fire to the LankaeNews office located in the outskirts of capital Colombo. The fire completely destroyed the office and the contents.
