Gunmen armed with grenades attack the offices of MTV, part of the Maharajah Broadcasting Corporation, the largest private television broadcaster in Sri Lanka. Media rights activists said that the state media had earlier accused the network as being “unpatriotic” for its coverage of the war against Tamil Tigers, specifically, criticising it for giving prominence to a suicide bombing in Colombo on the day government forces captured Kilinochchi.
Sources
Gunmen raid Sri Lanka TV station, BBC, 6 January 2009; Private TV station attacked in Sri Lanka: police, AFP, 6 January 2009; Armed attack on MTV, Daily Mirror, 6 January 2009
Quotations
“We strongly condemned the attack on the MTV offices and we urge the authorities to speedily investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice,” said the president of the Working Journalists’ Association, Sanath Balasuriya.
“It’s either that the citizens of Sri Lanka are able to drive around attacking institutions armed with weapons and grenades, or there is a hand behind it,” Chevaan Daniel, MTV.
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