Members of a Sri Lankan civil society organisation and family members take part in a vigil for missing journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 24/02/2010.
Eknaligoda, who wrote for the pro-opposition Lankaenews.com website that carried dissenting views, disappeared on January 24, just two days before the island's first post-war presidential poll.
Eknaligoda's colleagues believe that the pro-government supporters may be responsible for his disappearance. But the government denies the allegation.
The editor of a pro-opposition newspaper Chandana Sirimalwatte who has been held by police for more than two weeks without charge petitioned the Supreme Court on Monday, saying his detention was arbitrary and he should be released immediately. Police say Chandana Sirimalwatte, editor of the Lanka newspaper, is being detained under the country's powerful emergency laws that allow authorities to detain suspects for 90 days without charge.
Media rights groups accuse the authorities of intimidating and harassing journalists critical of the government's policies.
Official figures show that nine journalists have been killed and more than 25 assaulted in the past four years in Sri Lanka.
The government says it has nothing to do with either the killings or the attacks on journalists.
