(October, 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) On the last 15th, a container belonging to the army crashed near Koswatte junction. Although there were no injuries nor any serious damage to the transported goods, the incident immediately drew local media attention. However most of the media reports that surrounded the incident were inaccurate.The container was transporting uniforms, weapons and other supplies to SLA positions in the Northern FDL. Transport missions such as these are usually performed in utmost secrecy. Therefore the army immediately cordoned off the crash site, making it off limits to pedestrians and journalists alike. Even the mobile phone services in the area were temporarily suspended. This was all done to prevent the enemy gaining access to critical intelligence information. However several local and international media institutions interpreted this move as 'a threat to media freedom'. Some local news bulletins even mentioned that the SLA personnel deployed at the site 'harassed' the journalists.
If any video footage of the incident was released to the public, it could have put army's next move in northern FDL in jeopardy. Anyone with a fair knowledge on defense matters could have determined the army's battle plan if they saw what was on board the container. We do not have any hatred towards media institutions but it's our belief that "Media freedom" should never be exploited to aid the enemy.
(Defencenet)
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