Sri Lanka allows journalist to stay
Sri Lanka has revoked an expulsion order against a Swiss journalist who asked a critical question at a government press conference.
Karin Wenger, the South Asia correspondent for Swiss radio DRS, said on Friday that the Sri Lankan immigration service had cancelled her accreditation to the country, originally valid until February 17.
A government spokesman on Sunday said “false information” had led to the expulsion order and that President Mahinda Rajapaksa told officials to revoke the expulsion order and allow Wenger to continue her work.
Wenger had been in Sri Lanka to cover Tuesday’s presidential elections and said she believed she was being expelled for asking “inconvenient questions”. A spokesman for the radio said no reasons had been given for the expulsion.
Rajapaksa won the election by a large majority and the results have since been challenged by opponents. International rights groups say the government has been clamping down on local journalists and media that backed Rajapaksa's main opponent.
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