Journalists backed by opposition supporters chanting slogans and carrying placards demonstrated close to the President's House in the Sri Lankan capital Wednesday, demanding the arrest of those involved in an attack on a fellow journalist and his colleague working for the British High Commission.
Journalist Namal Perera, who is working as course co-ordinator for the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI), an organisation set up with Swedish funding to train local journalists, and Mahendra Ratnaweera were attacked with clubs by a four-member gang on Monday. They were hospitalised after the attack.
Perera was involved in organising a protest campaign against the abduction and assault of another journalist, Keith Noyhar, on May 23. Noyhar was believed to have been assaulted for writing an article critical of the military.
Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was among members of parliament who joined the protest campaign demanding that the government take action to protect journalists and ensure that a speedy inquiry be held in connection with the attack. The government has appointed two police teams to investigate the incident, but so far have not made an arrest.
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