Sri Lanka: Pro-opposition newspaper printing press burned in Sri Lanka

Wednesday, 21 November 2007

The printing press of a pro-opposition newspaper company in Sri Lanka was destroyed early Wednesday by an armed gang who stormed the building on the outskirts of Colombo and set the machines on fire, police said. At least 12 masked men carrying T-56 automatic weapons threatened the staff at the building located in Ratmalana, 12 kilometres south of the capital, and set it on fire.

'The printing press is located within a high-security zone adjoining an Air Force airport, and this raises the question how could the attackers escape without being detected,' said the managing director of the group, Lal Wickrematunga.

The group publishes three newspapers, the English-language Sunday Leader and Morning Leader and the Sinhala-language Irudina (Sunday) newspaper. All of them are highly critical of the government, exposing corruption among ministers and state institutions.

A similar attack on the printing press had been carried out before, but the damage was comparatively less.

Police said they have so far not been able to identify the attackers and the investigation is continuing.

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