Lasantha Wickramatunga, editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper, was killed after being shot twice in the head on 8 Dec as he drove to work in Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. The attackers are said to have been two gunmen riding motorcycles.
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On 18 November, journalist JS Tissainayagam, currently on trial before the High Court under the country’s Terrorism Act, was moved to the notorious Magazine prison in Colombo after more than 150 days in detention. (more…)
Journalist Radhika Devakumar narrowly escaped death on 8 September after being shot at three times in her own house in Batticaloa. An unknown group of gunmen entered her house and left her severely injured after shooting her in the abdomen, chest and shoulder. Devakumar works as the media secretary for a minister of the Eastern Provincial Council. There have been calls for immediate protection for the journalist and her family.
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JS Tissainayagam, editor of Sri Lankan news website OutreachSL, was indicted on 25 August on terrorist charges, after being arrested in March. The charges relate to articles that he published in 2006 for the magazine North Eastern Monthly. The government said that the editor had committed an offence against the Prevention of Terrorism Act, due to his articles encouraging ‘communal disharmony’. Tissainayagam had pleaded not guilty, but was subsequently denied bail and will go to trial on 18 September. His manager and wife also remain in custody without charge and it is yet unclear whether they have also been indicted.
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