A Sri Lankan government minister and his bodyguards rampaged through the offices of a state television station Thursday, assaulting its news director before employees fought back and took them hostage, officials and witnesses said.
Press freedom advocates demanded punishment for Labour Minister Mervyn Silva, who has repeatedly been accused of threatening reporters.
"This is not the first time Minister Silva did this. The government should take strict measures against him," said Sunanda Deshapriya, an official with the Free Media Movement, a local media rights group.
Silva's alleged attack and the employees' retaliation captivated this war-torn country as it unfolded throughout the day.
The violence began Thursday morning, when Silva and a group of his bodyguards entered the offices of the Colombo-based Rupavahini Corp. and attacked news director T.M.G. Chandrasekara for not broadcasting one of Silva's speeches, said Kanchana Marasinghe, a station employee.
Broadcast speech or else, minister says
In an interview aired later on Rupavahini's news station, Chandrasekara said that one of Silva's aides attacked him and ripped his shirt open while Silva threatened to destroy the station's offices if his speech was not aired.
Angry staffers quickly chased the attackers into the chairman's office and refused to let them out for three hours as soldiers and police gathered outside to defuse the situation, a standoff that was broadcast live by Rupavahini.
Silva was eventually freed after issuing a public apology to the staff and left the office escorted by police amid hoots and jeers from station employees.
"I express my apology to the staff and Rupavahini for this incident," he told reporters.
Television footage showed the minister covered in red ink and staffers stoning his car.
Silva was admitted to Colombo hospital with a head injury, which was not critical, said hospital director Dr. Hector Weerasinghe.
Police arrested one person on suspicion of assaulting Chandrasekara, the news director, a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Earlier allegations
The minister had previously been accused of storming into the offices of the Upali group, a private-owned newspaper company and Sirasa, a private television channel, threatening journalists at both places.
The government quickly condemned Silva's actions. "We will not approve this kind of behaviour," Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, the non-cabinet minister for media, told Rupavahini.
Silva and Abeywardena are two of the government's 36 non-cabinet ministers, who have less authority and fewer privileges than the 50 cabinet ministers. Another 20 lawmakers are deputy ministers.
The ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party also planned to take disciplinary action against him, party secretary-general Maithripala Sirisena said, according to the Daily Mirror newspaper's website.
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