The government has cancelled the visa of a Swiss reporter who is in Sri Lanka to cover the Presidential elections and she has been asked to leave the country by Monday.
Chief Immigration Controller P.B. Abeykoon, speaking to Daily Mirror online, said that the visa had been cancelled on the orders of the Director Media of the Information Department. Abeykoon said he merely followed instructions and did not know the reason for the cancellation.
Meanwhile AFP reported that Karin Wenger of Swiss Public Radio said she was sent a letter by the immigration controller saying she must leave the island before Monday and that her application for a media accreditation card had been denied.
She had already been issued with a media accreditation by the Sri Lankan government department of information and she said her journalist visa was valid until Feb 17. 'I fear I have been kicked out for asking uncomfortable questions at a government press conference,' Wenger, who is based in New Delhi, told AFP.
A government minister had publicly criticised her for grilling the authorities on allegations of irregularities at Tuesday's vote which was comfortably won by President Mahinda Rajapakse.
A letter sent to her from the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, seen by AFP, stated: 'You are kindly informed to leave the country on or before 1 February 2010. Please note that you are not entitled to engage in any media activities in Sri Lanka during this period.'
DM
apita support naha meya, apen prashna ahanawa hora chanda wada gana
elawapiya !
- Idi Amin
Chief Immigration Controller P.B. Abeykoon, speaking to Daily Mirror online, said that the visa had been cancelled on the orders of the Director Media of the Information Department. Abeykoon said he merely followed instructions and did not know the reason for the cancellation.
Meanwhile AFP reported that Karin Wenger of Swiss Public Radio said she was sent a letter by the immigration controller saying she must leave the island before Monday and that her application for a media accreditation card had been denied.
She had already been issued with a media accreditation by the Sri Lankan government department of information and she said her journalist visa was valid until Feb 17. 'I fear I have been kicked out for asking uncomfortable questions at a government press conference,' Wenger, who is based in New Delhi, told AFP.
A government minister had publicly criticised her for grilling the authorities on allegations of irregularities at Tuesday's vote which was comfortably won by President Mahinda Rajapakse.
A letter sent to her from the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, seen by AFP, stated: 'You are kindly informed to leave the country on or before 1 February 2010. Please note that you are not entitled to engage in any media activities in Sri Lanka during this period.'
DM
apita support naha meya, apen prashna ahanawa hora chanda wada gana
elawapiya !
- Idi Amin
