Sri Lanka‘s election commission has said it will censor the political coverage of a state-owned TV station after accusing it of bias against the former president’s brother, who is running in the country’s upcoming presidential election.
The unprecedented move came after the Independent Television Network (ITN) aired a programme alleging loyalists to the previous government had thwarted a corruption probe into the family of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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The election commission said the broadcast had harmed opposition frontrunner Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of the former leader.
The channel will be banned from showing political content from Monday without the commission’s approval, chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said.
“ITN cannot broadcast any political content without clearing with the Election Commission until the conclusion of the election on November 16,” said a letter sent from Deshapriya to the network late on Saturday and seen by AFP news agency.
Global News 
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