Free press under siege in Sri Lanka...

“They cut my hair and put it into my mouth, then gagged me. They struck both my legs, breaking one at the ankle. They used a piece of wood to smash the fingers on my right hand until they bled. They said, ‘This will stop you from writing’.”

These are the words of Poddala Jayantha, who was an outspoken critic of the Sri Lankan government’s treatment of media and also led the country’s main journalism union. In June 2009, he was abducted and tortured by armed men who broke his fingers so he could not write.

Jayantha had only returned to Sri Lanka a few weeks before the assault – he had left the country earlier in 2009 following the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge, editor of the Sunday Leader, a newspaper that had also criticised the government.

Today he lives in exile as he fears for his own safety in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately he is far from alone. Full story...

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