The head of the International Press Institute (IPI) has slammed the Sri Lankan government for failing to investigate the murder of Sinhala journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge and called for his killers to be brought to justice on the 11th anniversary of his death.
"It has been 11 years since Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated, yet virtually no progress has been made in securing justice", IPI Director of Advocacy Ravi R. Prasad said.
Wickrematunge was vocal critic of the Rajapaksa regime that was in power at the time, speaking out against corruption in the government as well as its war effort against the Tamils in the North-East, citing the numerous human rights abuses that had taken place.
Read more from the Colombo Page here and FT.lk here.
His murders have never been held to account, with reports that current Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was implicated in the killing. Soon after Rajapaksa’s election victory last year, a senior police officer who was involved in investigating the murder fled to seek asylum in Switzerland.
