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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rapa" data-source="post: 2388379" data-attributes="member: 212">Two Provincial Journalists of the Independent Television Network (ITN) were allegedly taken into UNP Headquarters ‘Sirikotha’ and manhandled while they were video filming the Building on Tuesday afternoon, ITN said yesterday while the UNP rejected the allegation saying they questioned the cameraman on security grounds.ITN News Producer Harsha Dananjaya Peiris said that Sujith Hewapathirana and Tilak Weerasinghe were the two journalists who were allegedly held and manhandled at Sirikotha and that they had been sent to get some video clips near the Pitakotte Junction for a Television programme.“The ‘Sirikotha’ security officers have taken them inside suspecting that they were LTTE cadres in spite of the journalists showing their identity cards. The security officers had held them at Sirikotha and it is reported that UNP Parliamentarian Tissa Attanayake had verbally abused the two journalists,” he said.“I was the one who sent them for the assignment and they rang me up telling me that they were held by security officers at Sirikotha,” he said adding that the journalists were freed from the back entrance of the building on the Police entering the scene.“The two journalists said that they were followed by a white van up to the ITN office after they were released,” he added.Several Media Organisations issuing statements on the incident said that they condemned the incident and that the UNP should apologise to the two journalists without trying to justify the incident.The statement further said that there was no need to get permission when videoing public places, and taking the journalists into Sirikotha and handing them over to the Police was an untoward  act.“This incident at Sirikotha shows that the politicians behind this act lack tolerance of opposing ideas,” the Media organisations said while urging all political parties to respect the freedom of expression in a democracy.The Mirihana Police said that they received complaints from the two journalists about an assault and added that further investigations were being conducted.</blockquote>

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