Sri Lankan defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa reportedly verbally abused Sunday Leader editor Frederica Jansz during a telephone interview last week. Jansz had asked the minister if he was aware that an aircraft scheduled to fly to Zurich was to be changed to accommodate a personal friend. During the conversation Rajapaksa told Jansz people “will kill you — you dirty fucking shit journalist”, and threatened to sue the newspaper if they ran the story. The Sunday Leader won the Index/Guardian Freedom of Expression award for journalism in 2009.
NEWS
Sri Lanka: Defence minister tells editor “they will kill you”
Sri Lankan defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa reportedly verbally abused Sunday Leader editor Frederica Jansz during a telephone interview last week. Jansz had asked the minister if he was aware that an aircraft scheduled to fly to Zurich was to be changed to accommodate a personal friend. During the conversation Rajapaksa told Jansz people “will kill you — you dirty […]
By Marta Cooper
09 Jul 12
READ MORE
-
Jimmy Lai, the troublemaker
A new biography details the life of Hong Kong’s most outspoken political prisoner – the book's author Mark Clifford talks to Index about Lai’s reso...
-
Australia is turning up the heat on environmental activists
Climate protesters in Australia face a higher risk of arrest than those in any other country, and direct action is becoming harder
-
Under the Taliban, Afghanistan’s musicians have fallen silent
A complete music ban has meant both professionals and amateurs must stop playing or risk their lives. We explore the impact on those in exile and t...
-
Afghanistan’s female lawyers are the latest target for the Taliban
Pursuing a legal career has become impossible for women in the country. Some of those women told Index their stories