{"id":11158,"date":"2026-03-18T17:01:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158"},"modified":"2026-03-18T17:01:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:01:32","slug":"condemnation-of-the-unlawful-obstruction-and-harassment-of-media-personnel-at-karapitiya-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158","title":{"rendered":"Condemnation of the Unlawful Obstruction and Harassment of Media Personnel at Karapitiya Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-11160\" src=\"http:\/\/fmetu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Picture1-300x50.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"390\" height=\"65\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Picture1-300x50.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fmetu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Picture1-1024x169.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fmetu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Picture1-768x127.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fmetu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Picture1-1536x254.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fmetu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Picture1-400x66.jpg 400w, https:\/\/fmetu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Picture1.jpg 1665w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 390px) 100vw, 390px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa,<\/p>\n<p>Hon. Minister of Mass Media,<\/p>\n<p>Ministry of Mass Media,<\/p>\n<p>Colombo.<\/p>\n<p>Hon. Minister,<\/p>\n<p><strong>Condemnation of the Unlawful Obstruction and Harassment of Media Personnel at Karapitiya Hospital<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Federation of Media Employees\u2019 Trade Unions (FMETU) in its vehement condemnation of the recent assault on press freedom involving <strong>Ms. Sulochana Ramiah Mohan<\/strong>, Deputy Editor of <em>Ceylon Today<\/em>. <strong>The Incident<\/strong> On March 9, 2026, while conducting a legitimate interview with Iranian maritime survivors at Karapitiya Teaching Hospital, Ms. Ramiah Mohan was subjected to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Verbal Abuse:<\/strong> Targeted with obscene language and intimidation by individuals identifying as police officers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Theft of Property:<\/strong> The forcible and unlawful seizure of her professional reporting notes and equipment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Obstruction of Justice:<\/strong> A deliberate attempt to shield a matter of public interest from transparent reporting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We view this incident as a grave violation of the <strong>fundamental right to information<\/strong> and the <strong>safety of media workers<\/strong>. The use of &#8220;lack of records&#8221; at the local station as a justification for these actions is an unacceptable evasion of accountability.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Demands for Action<\/strong> We urgently call upon the <strong>Inspector General of Police (IGP)<\/strong> and the <strong>Ministry of Public Security<\/strong> to:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Identify and Discipline:<\/strong> Conduct an immediate, impartial inquiry into the officers involved.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Restoration of Property:<\/strong> Ensure the immediate return of all seized journalistic materials to Ms. Ramiah Mohan.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Policy Reform:<\/strong> Issue a clear directive to all field officers regarding the legal protections afforded to journalists.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>We stand in unwavering solidarity with Sulochana Ramiah Mohan. A threat to one journalist is a threat to the democratic fabric of our entire nation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Signed,<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tharindu Uduwaragedara<\/p>\n<p>General Secretary,<\/p>\n<p>Federation of Media Employees\u2019 Trade Unions (FMETU)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, Hon. Minister of Mass Media, Ministry of Mass Media, Colombo. Hon. Minister, Condemnation of the Unlawful Obstruction and Harassment of Media Personnel at Karapitiya Hospital The Federation of Media Employees\u2019 Trade Unions (FMETU) in its vehement condemnation of the recent assault on press freedom involving Ms. Sulochana Ramiah Mohan, Deputy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[66],"class_list":["post-11158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-fundamental-rights"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Condemnation of the Unlawful Obstruction and Harassment of Media Personnel at Karapitiya Hospital - FMETU - Ancestral home (haven)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Condemnation of the Unlawful Obstruction and Harassment of Media Personnel at Karapitiya Hospital - FMETU - Ancestral home (haven)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; &nbsp; Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, Hon. Minister of Mass Media, Ministry of Mass Media, Colombo. Hon. Minister, Condemnation of the Unlawful Obstruction and Harassment of Media Personnel at Karapitiya Hospital The Federation of Media Employees\u2019 Trade Unions (FMETU) in its vehement condemnation of the recent assault on press freedom involving Ms. Sulochana Ramiah Mohan, Deputy [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FMETU - Ancestral home (haven)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/fmetusl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-18T17:01:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Picture1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1665\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"275\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Indira Nawagamuwa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Indira Nawagamuwa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Indira Nawagamuwa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/#\/schema\/person\/94cde6ebcb6fb7e9766ce1459dec4bdc\"},\"headline\":\"Condemnation of the Unlawful Obstruction and Harassment of Media Personnel at Karapitiya Hospital\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-18T17:01:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158\"},\"wordCount\":288,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/fmetu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Picture1-300x50.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"fundamental rights\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=11158\",\"name\":\"Condemnation of the Unlawful Obstruction and Harassment of Media Personnel at Karapitiya Hospital - 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