In light of concerns that Sri Lanka will restrict media access to international journalists to cover the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the Sri Lanka government have outlined that it will entirely follow the guidelines set by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
A statement issued by the Task Force Secretariat for CHOGM 2013 read,
“The Government of Sri Lanka, as host of CHOGM 2013, welcomes all journalists to Sri Lanka to cover this very important summit. As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations for more than 60 years, Sri Lanka remains fully committed to Commonwealth values, including a free press.”
The statement comes after a media watchdog, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wrote to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, calling on them to “ensure that the Sri Lankan government, which is widely known for its aggressive anti-press stance, does not prohibit access to foreign and local journalists.”
See here for the remarks of Sri Lanka’s council general to New South Wales Australia on foreign journalists.
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