"We find this failure to renew Ravi's visa disturbing," said John Daniszewski, AP's senior managing editor for international news.
Nessman received a one-year journalist visa upon arriving in Sri Lanka in July 2007, and it was renewed the following year. The government declined to renew it for a third year.
Lucien Rajakarunanayake, director of international media in the office of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, insisted the government had not ousted Nessman. He said it was standard for foreign journalists to be based in Colombo for two years.
Nessman's predecessor as AP bureau chief, Dilip Ganguly, was based in Colombo for a decade, from 1997-2007.
from the CPJ(Committee to Protect Journalists) blog
In response to a report by The Associated Press saying that the agency's Sri Lanka bureau chief Ravi Nessman left the country on Monday after the government refused to renew his visa, we released this statement...
no need for AP to report from lanka
we have ITN
Nessman received a one-year journalist visa upon arriving in Sri Lanka in July 2007, and it was renewed the following year. The government declined to renew it for a third year.
Lucien Rajakarunanayake, director of international media in the office of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, insisted the government had not ousted Nessman. He said it was standard for foreign journalists to be based in Colombo for two years.
Nessman's predecessor as AP bureau chief, Dilip Ganguly, was based in Colombo for a decade, from 1997-2007.
from the CPJ(Committee to Protect Journalists) blog
In response to a report by The Associated Press saying that the agency's Sri Lanka bureau chief Ravi Nessman left the country on Monday after the government refused to renew his visa, we released this statement...
"By refusing to renew the visa of an international news agency bureau chief the government is signaling to foreign journalists that it does not want independent reporting," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "This is part of a disturbing pattern of harassment and censorship of all journalists in Sri Lanka which has continued despite the end of the civil war."
CPJ.ORGno need for AP to report from lanka
we have ITN
know the man
