Russia has strongly protested against the National People’s Power (NPP) government’s decision to allow anti-Russia exhibits at the ongoing World Press Photo exhibition at the Independence Square Arcade, Colombo.
Russian Ambassador in Colombo Levan S. Dzhagaryan told The Island that he was quite surprised and disappointed over the development. He called the exhibition, which commenced on 10 January, an anti-Russia event.
The organisers have declared that the exhibition is open for the public from 10.30 am to 7 pm till 20 January.
The exhibition will also be held at the Jaffna Cultural Centre from 24 to 27 January. From Jaffna, the exhibition will be moved to the Galle Municipal mall (31 January to 02 February) before returning to Colombo. Cinnamon Life will accommodate the exhibition from 08 to 10 February.
The Russian Embassy in Colombo on Monday (12) issued the following statement: “The Embassy was perplexed by the anti-Russian photos at the exhibition in the Independence Square Arcade which was organized by the Sri Lanka Press Institute and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Colombo.
Those materials reflect the current events in the Ukraine zone in a biased and one-sided manner with the emphasis on the Western and Kiev interpretation. At the same time, the crimes of the Zelensky regime against the residents of Donbas, infringement of the rights of the Russian speaking population in Ukraine, targeted murders of Russian journalists and the treacherous violations of the Minsk agreements by Kiev Nazi junta, are hushed up.
Such non-subjective presentation of materials is further evidence of hypocrisy and double standards of the West.
In this regards, the Embassy expects an appropriate response from the official authorities of Sri Lanka, based on the fact that permission to hold such an anti-Russian event does not correspondent to the spirit of traditional Russian-Sri Lankan friendly relations.
As for the Dutch Embassy, we recommend that it focuses on continuing efforts to return to Sri Lanka the artefacts criminally taken by the Dutch colonizers which rightfully belong to the people of the island state.”
The exhibition was last hosted here in 2002 during the UNP administration.
(The Island)
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