In Sri Lanka, It’s A Long Way To Justice

November 22, 2013 

(VIENNA, Nov 21, 2013) Lasantha Wickrematunge, editor of the Sri Lankan weekly The Sunday Leader, was shot near Colombo by unknown gunmen riding a motorcycle on the morning of Jan. 8, 2009 as he was driving his car to his office, according to news reports. He died of his wounds a few hours later.

Lasantha Wickrematunge, the Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Leader was killed 2009. Photo/REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Wickrematunge was one of the most persistent and authoritative critics of both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). In a Jan. 4 , 2009 Sunday Leader editorial criticising President Mahinda Rajapaksa for allegedly using the war against the LTTE as a tool for achieving electoral success, he boldly stated that “the Rajapakses, swollen as they are with the pride of bloodthirsty euphoria, are unable to think beyond the destruction of the LTTE and its leadership”.

An editorial published in The Sunday Leader three days after his murder, says: “In the wake of my death I know you [Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa] will make all the usual sanctimonious noises and call upon the police to hold a swift and thorough inquiry. But like all the inquiries you have ordered in the past, nothing will come of this one, too.”

On Jan. 8, 2010, Lasantha’s brother and Chairman of Leader Publications Ltd. (which includes The Sunday Leader), Lal Wickrematunge, told IPI: “It is one year and no break-through has been made … The case in court has been called 24 times and postponed; and police have not made any headway into solving the crime.”

In a Q&A conducted by the International Press Institute (IPI) on the day his brother Lasantha was named IPI’s 53rd World Press Freedom Hero, Lal Wickrematunge said: “Lasantha knew he was in danger through past attacks on him. But he continued in his journey unbowed and unafraid. He felt total commitment to his work …”

Today, over four years after Lasantha’s murder, no one has yet been charged for this crime. IPI spoke to Sri Lankan journalist Uvindu Kurukulasuriya, who has been living in exile ever since Lasantha’s murder. Kurukulasuriya is the former convenor of the press freedom group Free Media Movement. After going into exile, he founded the online newspaper, The Colombo Telegraph, of which he is still the editor.

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