Sri Lanka
The most dangerous profession
At least eight prominent journalists have left Sri Lanka since the assassination of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga on the 8th January, “Journalism has perhaps become the most dangerous profession in this country,” the privately run [Sunday Leader] said in a front-page editorial on Saturday. “It is riskier than even soldiering in that a soldier […]
Seven journalists flee Sri Lanka
Following the killing of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge seven “prominent” Sri Lankan journalists have left the country, according to Tamil.net. In addition, another journalist and his wife have been attacked in the district of Gampha, Media reports said an editor of a pro-government Sinhala weekly ‘Rivira’, Upali Tennakoon, and his wife were severely assaulted […]
And then they came for me
Lasantha Wickrematunge, the editor of the Sri Lanka newspaper The Sunday Leader who was murdered on Sunday, wrote his own farewell letter days before he was murdered. I blogged about his brutal murder on 8 January, but I am posting his final editorial in full here, No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay […]
And then they came for me
Lasantha Wickrematunge, the editor of the Sri Lanka newspaper The Sunday Leader who was murdered on Sunday, wrote his own farewell letter days before he was murdered. I blogged about his brutal murder on 8 January, but I am posting his final editorial in full here, No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay […]
Lasantha Wickramatunga shot dead in Colombo
Lasantha Wickramatunga, editor of popular Sri Lankan newspaper The Sunday Leader, has been shot dead as he drove to work in the capital Colombo. The editor, whose newspaper sub header reads “Unbowed And Unafraid”, had often been critical of the government. In his last editorial he said, Winning the war? Then there must be elections […]
Stop the War on Journalists in Sri Lanka
The recently launched CPJ blog highlights the plight of Sri Lankan journalist J.S. Tissainayagam. Tissa, as he is known, was detained in March by Terrorist Investigation Division forces and charged in August for "promoting terrorism through a magazine he published for a brief period in 2006". The International Federation of Journalists and Sri Lankan […]
Journalists in Sri Lanka under threat
The International Herald Tribune reports on the increasing threats to the journalists working in Sri Lanka. At least 100 reporters have been attacked, 25 journalists have fled the country and several others have gone underground, said [Sunanda] Deshapriya of the Free Media Movement… Iqbal Athas, a high-profile defense columnist for the Sunday Times who is […]
Cowboy defence analysts
Media watchers in Sri Lanka were on the ragged end of some severe criticism from the government’s Ministry of Defence today. The Khaleej Times has more, ‘We do not mind any person trying to make his living by writing whatever crap to the newspapers. Yet, we too have our right to lay bare the truth […]