Posts Tagged ‘Lasantha Wikrematunga’
Chronicle of a death foretold
[Economist] THE good that men do is not always interred with their bones. This week saw the publication of a remarkable posthumous column by Lasantha Wickrematunge, a Sri Lankan newspaper editor. He had written it in anticipation of his own murder. That duly came on January 8th, when gunmen on motorcycles shot him on his…
Read MoreRow over Sri Lanka editor’s murder grows as diplomat censured
[AFP] Sri Lanka’s government censured a senior international diplomat after he spoke at the funeral of a newspaper editor whose murder has been blamed on the island’s rulers, officials said Wednesday. German ambassador Jurgen Weerth was ordered to the Colombo foreign office and told of Sri Lanka’s anger over his graveside eulogy for Lasantha Wickrematunga,…
Read MoreSri Lankan editor row escalates
[BBC] The Sri Lankan government has accused the opposition of trying to gain political advantage from last week’s murder of a prominent newspaper editor. Engineering Services Minister Rajitha Senaratne said he did not know who had killed Lasantha Wickramatunga but it was the opposition that had benefited. The Sunday Leader editor was one of the…
Read MoreDying for free speech in Sri Lanka
[Guardian] While driving to work on 8 January Lasantha Wickrematunge, editor in chief of the Sunday Leader, was assassinated by four gunmen on motorcycles. He was shot at point-blank range after being forced to stop at a traffic light. He was rushed to the Kalubowila hospital where he later died. His death came just two…
Read MoreMass protest at funeral of slain Sri Lanka editor
[ Reuters ] Thousands marched in the funeral procession of a slain Sri Lankan newspaper editor in the capital Colombo on Monday, demanding the government punish those responsible to ensure media freedom and democracy. A packed crowd gathered at the entrance of Sri Lanka’s main cemetery in one of the largest protests in recent memory,…
Read More