Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed there is no media freedom in Sri Lanka, under the current government.
Speaking to reporters following a hearing at a Presidential Commission of Inquiry examining corruption Mr Rajapaksa said “the media freedom that was there during my tenure is not there today”.
“I never ordered them to publish this or that,” said Mr Rajapaksa. “You should ask about the media censorship under this government from your bosses.”
The former president said he would refrain from making more comments regarding the state of media freedom on the island, as he was certain that media outlets would not be allowed to publish them. “This will make your job as well as your bosses’ jobs easier,” he quipped.
Earlier this month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) ranked Sri Lanka 6th in its 2015 Global Impunity Index, which “spotlights countries where journalists are slain and the killers go free”.