Murdered Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge was commemorated in a ceremony by journalists in Batticaloa earlier today, marking 15 years since he was gunned down in Colombo.
Candles were lit at a memorial in Gandhi Park which is dedicated to media workers who have been killed in Sri Lanka.
Wickrematunge, the former editor of Sunday Leader and a staunch critic of the various human rights violations perpetrated by the Rajapaksa government and the corruption by its ministers was gunned down on January 8, 2009 on his way to work.
In an editorial published three days after his murder, Wickrematunge wrote:
"It is well known that I was on two occasions brutally assaulted, while on another my house was sprayed with machine-gun fire. Despite the government's sanctimonious assurances, there was never a serious police inquiry into the perpetrators of these attacks, and the attackers were never apprehended."
"In all these cases, I have reason to believe the attacks were inspired by the government. When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me," Wickrematunge added.
At the time of his murder, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released a statement saying that “President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his associates and the government media are directly to blame because they incited hatred against him [Wickrematunge] and allowed an outrageous level of impunity to develop as regards violence against the press."
In September 2021, RSF, Press Unlimited (FPU) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), requested the Permanent People's Tribunal (PTT) to convene a People's Tribunal on the Murder of Journalists. Wickrematunge's murder
