Sri Lanka

Government under pressure after murder of newspaper editor

Article published on the 2009-01-09 Latest update 2009-01-09 17:52 TU

Lasantha Wickrematunga lying on a stretcher.
(Photo: Reuters)

Hundreds of journalists in Sri Lanka took to the streets on Friday to protest at the killing of Lasantha Wickrematunga, editor of the Sunday Leader.

Opposition lawmakers also protested inside parliament and accused the government of being complicit.

He was killed by gunmen on a motorbike on Thursday morning as he travelled to work.

“Lasantha’s killing happened very close to a security forces checkpoint – where army and police are both present, so it remains quite curious as to how armed gunmen could operate in Colombo in broad daylight,” said Charu Lata Hogg from Human Rights Watch.

His publication, the Sunday Leader is an anti-establishment newspaper, and Lasantha, who was a qualified lawyer, regularly fought defamation cases filed by politicians.

“Lasantha, in particular was an investigative journalist, he had many massive exposés to his credit, he investigated the government’s arms deals,” Lata Hogg told RFI.

Sri Lanka’s opposition and local organisations have said they do not trust the local police to investigate, and say that the government must find the perpetrators if it is to clear its name. They want to involve international investigators.

“It [the government] is eager to ensure that criticism of this war effort is clamped down on, in the country,” said Lata Hogg speaking from London.

The death of Lasantha comes two days after an attack on a private television station in which men with rifles and grenades destroyed most of the equipment.

State media had accused the station of not being “patriotic” enough in reporting military success against the Tamil Tigers.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan troops fighting the rebels have said they captured the Elephant Pass on Friday.

The Tamil Tigers have held the strategic causeway, which links the Jaffna peninsula and the mainland, since April 2000.