Sri Lankan police must cease harassing journalists Selvakumar Nilanthan and Tharindu Jayawardhana, following their reporting on alleged government misconduct, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

“With a new president, Sri Lanka has an opportunity to improve press freedom,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Police should drop their complaints against journalists Selvakumar Nilanthan and Tharindu Jayawardhana and allow them to work freely.”

On October 20, police in eastern Batticaloa district arrested Nilanthan after he did not attend a court hearing related to a 2019 investigation on multiple allegations, including obstruction of a public officer and defamation over his reporting on alleged government corruption.

Nilanthan told CPJ that neither he nor his lawyer received notice of the September hearing before he was detained in an overcrowded cell in Eravur town with an open defecation area.

Nilathan was detained together with journalist Kuharasu Subajan, his surety in the case responsible for guaranteeing that the defendant appears for court hearings.

The two were released the next day, when Nilanthan was granted bail after a court denied the police’s request for a 14-day remand. His next hearing is on January 20.

Separately, on October 9, Induka Silva — head of the police Criminal Investigation Department’s homicide unit — sought an order from the capital’s Colombo Fort Magistrate Court against Jayawardhana, editor-in-chief of the news website MediaLK, over a video in which he commented on allegations of misconduct against Silva and the appointment of Ravi Seneviratne to the Ministry of Public Security.

At the time the video was published, Silva was investigating Seneviratne over the government’s failure to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 269 people. Seneviratne was the senior deputy inspector-general of the CID at the time.

On October 12, Silva was transferred to the police headquarters, according to Jayawardhana and a copy of the order reviewed by CPJ.

Silva’s report, reviewed by CPJ, accused Jayawardhana — who has reported extensively on the attacks — of publishing false informationand obstructing the investigation into Seneviratne. The next hearing is scheduled for January 15, Jayawardhana told CPJ, adding that he feared he would be arrested.

Seneviratne told CPJ that Silva’s report against Jayawardhana violated the journalist’s freedom of expression.

CID Director Mangala Dehideniya and Eravur police officer-in-charge N. Harsha de Silva told CPJ that they were unable to immediately comment and did not respond to CPJ’s subsequent text messages.