Sri Lankan authorities blocking investigation of editor’s murder

The following is a press release from Reporters Without Borders on April 8 and forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong:

Reporters Without Borders has gathered information from various sources that supports the theory that the Sri Lankan authorities are blocking the investigation into the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge in Colombo on 8 January, exactly three months ago today.

Government officials, including Keheliya Rambukwella, said at the end of January that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would announce “very important details” about the murder in February. But since then, there has been nothing to confirm the existence of a political will to solve the case. Wickrematunge’s family and colleagues have been forced to conclude that the authorities have no interest in arresting either the perpetrators or instigators.

“Members of the government have made contradictory statements about the motives and identity of this leading journalist’s murderers,” Reporters without Borders said. “It would be better if the investigation were given proper resources. We urge President Rajapaksa to assign members of the criminal investigation police to the case and to formally request the help of international experts in solving the murder.”

Wickrematunge’s murder in the capital marked a dramatic escalation in press freedom violations in Sri Lanka and Reporters without Borders – which is a member of the International Mission for Press Freedom in Sri Lanka – will continue to insist that it is not left unpunished.

Wickrematunge’s widow, Sonali Samarasinghe, herself a journalist, said in an open letter to police inspector general Jayantha Wickremaratna in mid-March that: “There has still been no credible breakthrough in the investigation. No murder weapons, no suspect, no post mortem report has yet been made public.”

Wickrematunge, who has just been awarded a UNESCO press freedom prize posthumously, was never given the police protection he requested.

Wickrematunge was killed by men on motorcycles as he was driving to work. They blocked his car’s path near Malagalage primary school, smashed its window and apparently beat him about the head and body with steel bars. He was taken unconscious to a hospital where he died from his head injuries. Several witnesses said no shots were heard and no bullet impacts were found. Strangely, the autopsy findings have never been released.

The attack took place just several hundred metres from an air force checkpoint but the assailants were able to get away. One of the motorcycles was found by the police but it is still not known if it was of any help in tracking down the assailants.

Wickrematunge knew that he was being watched and was in danger. That morning he had seen two helmeted men near his home. He had told friends about it but finally decided to drive to work anyway. A relative said a motorcycle seen parked near his home belonged to the security forces.

The investigation was assigned to Colombo’s Mount Lavinia police station and a police source it was not given any special priority. The authorities said four teams were assigned to this case and to an attack on MTV, a Colombo TV station, but no significant results have been reported. Several of Wickrematunge’s colleagues have voiced concern that the Criminal Investigation Department was kept out of the case. His widow even filed a court petition for it to be transferred to the CID, but her request was denied.

Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara told journalists that the investigation was focusing on the calls Wickrematunge received on the day of his murder. Gunasekara created confusion in early March by claiming that the police had not received the forensic report from the “government analyst” (GA) although the GA insisted in statement to the press on 5 March that he had sent it several weeks earlier to Officer Hemantha Adikari at Mount Lavinia police station.

The police announced the arrest of a suspect but it was just a passer-by who stole Wickrematunge’s mobile phone from the scene of the murder. At the start of this month, a court ordered that this suspect continue to be held until 16 April.

In an interview for an international TV station, Wickrematunge’s widow said he had written several times to the police inspector general to tell him about the repeated threats and to request protection. The police ignored his requests. “Lasantha always said that if he was killed, it would be by the government (…) Our reports about the suffering of the civilian population did not sit well with the patriotism of the military.”

The authorities have made contradictory and in some cases defamatory comments about Wickrematunge. The president’s brother, defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said in an interview for a foreign TV station: “Who is Lasantha? A tabloid publisher. Why is the world worried about one man? He criticized everybody. So everybody had a reason to kill him.” He went on to make similar comments to the Australian TV station SBS: “He has antagonised so many people. He had criticised and reported wrong things about all persons.”

The Sunday Leader, now being edited by his brother, Lal Wickrematunge, has continued to be subjected to pressure from government circles since his murder. A significant loss of advertising income is now threatening its economic survival.

President Rajapaksa called Wickrematunge a “terrorist journalist” during an interview with a Reporters without Borders representative in Colombo in October 2008, three months before his murder.

Sri Lanka was ranked 165th out of 173 countries in the Reporters without Borders 2008 press freedom index. This was the lowest ranking of any democratic country.

Reporters without Borders condemns Sri Lankan editor's murder

LASANTHA WIKREMATUNGA

Reporters Without Borders, in a statement, voiced outrage at the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, who was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle as he drove to work in Colombo.

"Sri Lanka has lost one of its more talented, courageous and iconoclastic journalists," Reporters Without Borders said. "President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his associates and the government media are directly to blame because they incited hatred against him and allowed an outrageous level of impunity to develop as regards violence against the press. Sri Lanka's image is badly sullied by this murder, which is an absolute scandal and must not go unpunished."

The press freedom organisation added: "The military victories in the north against the Tamil Tigers rebels must not be seen as a green light for death squads to sow terror among government critics, including outspoken journalists. The international community must do everything possible to halt such a political vendetta."

President Rajapaksa called Wickrematunga a "terrorist journalist" during an interview with a Reporters Without Borders representative in Colombo, last October.

This morning's attack on Wickrematunga occurred in rush-hour traffic about 100 metres from an air force checkpoint near one of the capital's airports. The two assailants smashed the window of his car with a steel bar before shooting him at close range in the head, chest and stomach. He was rushed to a Colombo hospital where he died a few hours later.

The Sunday Leader's outspoken style and coverage of shady business deals meant that Wickrematunga was often the target of intimidation attempts and libel suits. The most recent lawsuit was brought by the president's brother, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who got a court to ban the newspaper from mentioning him for several weeks.

Lasantha Wickrematunga, who was also a lawyer, told Reporters Without Borders in an interview that his aim as a journalist was to "denounce the greed and lies of the powerful." His newspaper specialised in sensational investigative reporting of corruption and abuse of authority in Sri Lanka.

The printing press of the Sunday Leader media group (Leader Publications), which is located in a high security area near Colombo, was destroyed in an arson attack by a group of gunmen in November 2007. Wickrematunga told Reporters Without Borders at the time the attack was "a commando operation supported by the government." The police did not carry out a proper investigation.

Sri Lanka was ranked 165th out of 173 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2008 press freedom index. This was the lowest ranking of any democratic country. Two journalists were killed in Sri Lanka in 2008 and two others, J. S. Tissanayagam and Vettivel Jasikaran, are currently in prison.

The above release has been distributed by the Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong.