... denies having proposed reintroduction of criminal defamation

June 21, 2013, 9:06 pm


by Zacki Jabbar


While the government has alleged that the UNP had proposed the reintroduction of Criminal defamation, UNP MP Harin Fernando said yesterday that his proposal to the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Media had been distorted.


He told The Island that what he had suggested to the PSC was the introduction of a code of ethics for the media since some slanderous articles were being published under pseudonyms.


"Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa seconded my proposal saying that it was a good idea," Fernando said, observing that at no stage had he proposed that criminal defamation be reintroduced.


MP Fernando said: "I also said the state media was being abused. It was said in the presence of several State media heads."


The MP noted there was a need for a code of ethics for the media as the Press Council had failed.


"My proposal was aimed at reigning in pseudo journalists who were nothing more than armchair critics resorting to mud slinging under the cover of pseudonyms," MP Fernando said.

island.lk