Sri Lankan editor known for exposing govt. corruption released on bail

Colombo, Apr 8 (ANI): Bennett Rupasinghe, a dissident Sri Lankan journalist, who was arrested for allegedly threatening another man last month, has been granted bail.

The case against the 68-year-old editor of LankaeNews.com would be taken up again on 7 July, the BBC reports.

Rupasinghe has denied the charge.

Although police have been saying that the accused journalist has threatened a man, independent journalists and rights groups have insisted that the move was intended to suppress him and the free media.

LankaeNews has been subjected to a number of threats and attacks in recent years. The organisation's office was set on fire in January, and a columnist for the website has been reportedly missing since over a year.

Rupasinghe had said at that time that he suspected "a government hand" in the arson attack because the website had published many stories exposing corruption, "especially on the part of the government".

He said that the website had received a lot of threats even before the arson attack.

Last year, the chief editor of Lankaenews editor had fled the country after receiving threatening phone calls. (ANI)