Maduka Thakshala Fernando
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Maduka Thakshala Fernando | |
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| Born | 1985 (age 38–39) Colombo,Sri Lanka |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Alma mater | University of Colombo |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Maduka Thakshala Fernando (born 1985) is a Sri Lankan journalist.
Early life and education
Fernando was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1985. He studied journalism at the University of Colombo, graduating in 2007.
Career
Fernando began his career as a freelance journalist in 2009. He worked for several newspapers and websites. In 2014, he was appointed the New Media Head of Lake House, one of Sri Lanka's largest media conglomerates. He has also worked for Sirasa FM, Y FM, Ceylon UK, Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, ABC Network Pvt Ltd, and Dasatha Lanka News.
Fernando's work often criticizes the government of Sri Lanka. He has written extensively about corruption, human rights abuses, and the government's suppression of dissent. His work often made him a target of the government. In fear for his safety, Fernando left Sri Lanka in 2019. He is now living in the United Kingdom.
Fernando has continued to work as a journalist in the United Kingdom. He has written extensively about the threats to press freedom in Sri Lanka. In 2020, he was awarded the International Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Attacks and threats
In 2019, Fernando was attacked by a group of men who claimed to be from the Anti-Narcotics Department. The men beat him and threatened to kill him if he continued to write about the government. Fernando reported the attack to the police, but no one was arrested.
In the same year, Fernando's home was vandalized. The attackers spray-painted graffiti on his walls and threatened to kill him and his family.
Fernando had already been a victim of an attack of this nature before in December 2019, at his place of work in the Lake House building. That was when Gotabhaya Rajapaksa assumed duties as President of Sri Lanka.[1][2]
References
- ↑ Rajapaksa, Dasun (2019-12-11). "ලේක් හවුස් මාධ්යවේදියකුට පහර දීලා".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "විපක්ෂය මර නින්දේ: ලේක්හවුස් හිටපු New Media ප්රධානියාට ප්රහාරයක් !". 2019-12-11.
External links
This article "Maduka Thakshala Fernando" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.