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Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka ‘wipes data’ as Aussie newshound expelled
2013-11-02
Sri Lankan authorities on Friday wiped all the data from the computer of an Australian media rights activist as she and a colleague were kicked out of the country, a local rights group said.

Jacqui Park and fellow Australian Jean Worthington were packed onto a plane that flew out of Colombo airport a day after authorities ordered their expulsion for “anti-government” activities. But, according to members of the local Free Media Movement (FMM), Park was only allowed to board after plane-clothes investigators removed all data from her personal laptop at the end of two days of questioning.

“They were told by the immigration officials today that it was all a big misunderstanding,” FMM spokesman Sunil Jayasekera told AFP.

“They went through everything in the computer. When they gave it back to her, everything had been erased,” Jayasekera added.
What was the part that was misunderstood?
There was no immediate comment from immigration authorities who detained the pair — both members of the International Federation of Journalists — during a meeting with FMM colleagues at a hotel in Colombo on Wednesday.

FMM spokesman Sunil Jayasekera said Park was on holiday and was simply meeting with her local colleagues and not breaking any visa conditions.
Local colleagues. Local colleagues with information and contacts, and a story to peddle...
Sri Lanka has blacklisted many foreign journalists over their reports on the countryÂ’s human rights record and alleged war crimes in the final stages of the Tamil ethnic war in 2009. Local journalists have also been the victims of crimes and many say they practise self-censorship.
Posted by:Steve White

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