The Editor's Guild today made a request from the Chief Justice to inquire on the conduct of the police at the magisterial inquiry to the death of a youth in Embilipitiya.

A police constable confiscated the notebooks of the journalists who were taking notes of the court proceedings. Their notebooks were later returned following protests made by the journalists. However, the relevant pages had been torn off by the police.

In a letter to Chief Justice K. Sripavan, President of the Editors' Guild Siri Ranasinghe pointed out that the said incident had happened while the court was in session and the judge was on his seat.

The police had infringed on media freedom and the constitutional right of the journalists to pursue with their job, Ranasinghe said. Furthermore, the incident infringes on the citizens' right to be informed, he added.