"We have given then a chance to correct themselves. They did a lot of damage through their misinformation campaign. We branded them mercenaries," Keheliya Rambukwella the Minister of Information said.
On their arrival, the team was mobbed by protesters angry at their reporting of the army's actions during the final days of the civil war in the country.
The channel 4 has aired a series of documentaries which highlighted alleged human rights abuses carried out by the government troops in the last stages of government's military campaign against the LTTE.
A group calling itself the Forum to Build National Harmony staged a protest at the Colombo airport when the Channel 4 crew landed.
They later moved to the crew's Colombo hotel front to demonstrate.
"We protest to the government for giving them visas," a protester said.
Sources said the British authorities had made it mandatory for Sri Lanka to ensure media access into the country.
