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Lack of Press freedom in Sri Lanka – Keith Simpson MP, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs

by admin on Jan.09, 2010, under Sri Lanka

The Courageous Editor who Fearlessly spoke Truth to Power

LW18DIt was on January 8th last year that Lasantha Wickrematunga the Editor of “The Sunday Leader” in Colombo was killed by “unknown” assassins. He was my colleague, editor, friend and above all a kindred soul. One whole year has passed but there has been no progress whatsoever in the investigations into the brutal murder. This was to be expected as those responsible are ensconced in the seat of power. Lassie Boy as I called him was one who spoke truth fearlessly to power…………..  http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/1291

 

 

 

Sri Lanka’s Human Rights disaster

A year after the murder of Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge, the country’s human rights record is still poor

logoWickrematunge was one of 16 Sri Lankan journalists who have been murdered in recent years after reporting or criticising the government’s actions and policies during the decades-old conflict with the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), which ended last year. He had been on Amnesty International’s endangered list since 1998, when anti-tank shells were fired on his house. 

Wickrematunge wrote a chilling editorial predicting his imminent death and blaming the government for it, which was published posthumously in the Guardian. Murder, he wrote, “has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty”. He described the LTTE as “among the most ruthless and bloodthirsty organisations to have infested the planet”, but warned that the means being used to defeat it were violating the rights of the country’s Tamil people and damaging democracy itself. “Bombing and shooting mercilessly, is not only wrong but shames the Sinhalese, whose claim to be custodians of the dhamma is forever called into question by this savagery – much of it unknown to the public because of censorship,” he concluded………… http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/07/sri-lanka-wickrematunge-human-rights

Lack of press freedom in Sri Lanka – Keith Simpson MP, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs

CONSERVATIVE 2keith_simpsonToday marks the first anniversary of the assassination of Lasantha Wickremetunge, a prominent journalist and editor of the Sunday Leader, a newspaper critical of the Sri Lankan government. He predicted his own death in a powerful editorial which was published posthumously and a year later no progress has been made in bringing his killers to justice.

We call upon the Sri Lankan government to honour its commitment under Article 14 of the country’s Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression. A free press is an important indication and a crucial pillar of a healthy, fully functioning democracy and we urge the Sri Lankan government to improve conditions in the country in accordance with international standards on media freedom and freedom of expression.

Keith Simpson MP
8 January 2010


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