SLPI opposes reactivation of Press Council

The constituent partners of the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) have condemned the Executive actions of the President Maithripala Sirisena to re-activate the Sri Lanka Press Council on July 2, 2015 through the provisions of the anti-democratic Press Council Law No. 5 of 1973.

The re-establishment of the government appointed Press Council, re-introduces dormant legislation that provides for wide ranging punitive powers, including that of imprisoning media personnel.

Completely reversing an election promise of his, to ensure the stoppage of direct and indirect threats and intimidation against print media personnel and their owners, the question arises if this is the short-term and long-term program he promised in his election manifesto to protect freedom of all media personnel.

On the contrary, President Sirisena has proceeded to re-constitute the Press Council's tribunal without consulting stakeholders as he is, in any event, bound to do by law under sections 3(b)(i) and 3(b)(ii) of the said law. Sri Lanka was the first South-Asian country to introduce self-regulation, with the broad support of the newspaper industry. An 11-member Dispute Resolution Council of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL), chaired by a former Secretary General of Parliament, has sat on public complaints against press reports since 2003.

Since its establishment in 2003, the PCCSL has dispensed with over 1500 complaints from the public at large, through an independent Dispute Resolution Council. This process incurs no financial burden on either the complainant or the State. The PCCSL is also the implementing arm of the Code of Professional Practice drafted by The Editors' Guild of Sri Lanka, and conducts regular training programs for provincial journalists throughout the country.

The constituent partners of the SLPI have demanded from successive political leaders, the repeal of the draconian Press Council Law and call upon President Sirisena to rescind his Executive decision to reactivate the Press Council, with immediate effect without dragging this country back into the abyss of a repressive, un-democratic state.