Sri Lanka: President threatens newspaper chairman by phone

04 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost

On Tuesday it was reported that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa threatened the chairman of The Sunday Leader, Lal Wickrematunge, by phone on 19 July. In response to an article that claimed China had given the president and his son millions of dollars to be used “at their discretion”, Rajapaksa reportedly told Wickrematunge, “you can attack me politically, but if you attack me personally, I will know how to attack you personally too.” The Sunday Leader is Sri Lanka’s only independent English-language newspaper, and has long been targeted by the government. The paper claims the 2009 murder of its former head, Lasantha Wickematunge (Lal’s brother), was never investigated fully.

Sri Lanka: Sunday Leader editors threatened

28 Oct 09 | Uncategorized

In April of this year, Sunday leader proprieter Lal Wickrematunge accepted an Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award on behalf of the beleaguered Sri-Lankan newspaper. Lal’s brother Lasantha was asassinated in January 2009. The Sunday Leader had been, and continues to be, a thorn in the side of President Mahinda RajapaskaMahinda Rajapaska, and his brother, defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In recent months, the paper has been sued for contempt of court after publishing a profile of the defence minister. Lawyers defending it have been described as “traitors” by government agencies.

Now the Leader reports that Frederica Jansz, Editor-in-Chief of and Munza Mushtaq, News Editor, have received threatening letters similar to those received by Lasantha weeks before his murder.

Sunday Leader death threat

In a forthright editorial, the Sunday Leader has outlined its response to the threats:

“The Sunday Leader has been a controversial newspaper because we say it like we see it: whether it be a spade, a thief or a murderer, we call it by that name. We do not hide behind euphemism. The investigative articles we print are supported by documentary evidence. We have exposed scandal after scandal, and never once in these 15 years has anyone proved us wrong or successfully prosecuted us.

“From us you learn the state of your nation, and especially its management by the people you elected to give your children a better future. Sometimes the image you see in that mirror is not a pleasant one. The journalists who hold the mirror up to you do so publicly and at great risk to themselves. That is our calling, and we do not shirk it.”

The Sunday Leader is an important independent voice in a country that is sliding into autocracy. Sri Lanka’s authorities and the international community must strive to ensure that its reporters and editors can work free from intimidation and violence.