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by Reggie Fernando, our London correspondent

Repealing of the 'Criminal Defamation Laws'; in Sri Lanka by the present government has come in for much praise in British media circles with news of the new legislation being mentioned widely.

The London based Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) in the current issue of its monthly newspaper (CPU News) has applauded Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his cabinet for their stance in making amendments to the Penal Code thus removing the right for anyone - even the Attorney-General to make libel a criminal matter, punishable by fines and up to two years in jail.

The Free Media Movement (FMM) in Sri Lanka which has been battling over the year for a change in the law has also been mentioned in the article which is its page one lead story under the headline 'Sri Lanka: criminal libel, RIP'.

Stating that laying to rest "one of the biggest legal threats to media independence, the island state offers" is a feather in the government's cap, the piece goes on: "In practice, of course, Sri Lanka-along with a disturbing number of other Commonwealth member states-has wielded it as a means of silencing journalists and others whose work is inconvenient, inquiring and investigative".

It also quotes Justice Minister W. J. M. Lokubandara as saying: "Now it is up to the media to act with responsibility" and goes on at length explaining the value of this new legislature.

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