Journalists killed in Sri Lanka since 1992
Sri Lanka documents by Year:
Sri Lankan military intelligence officers suspected in journalist's murder
February 23, 2017 4:04 PM ET
New York, February 23, 2017--Sri Lankan authorities should fully investigate the 2009 murder of an editor and bring his killers to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Five military intelligence officers were arrested this week in connection with the murder of Lasantha Wickramatunga, the editor-in-chief of the...
Sri Lankan government blocks Tamil website
November 14, 2016 10:55 AM ET
Sri Lankan regulators blocked access to a Tamil-language news website on October 26, 2016, over allegations that the website carried false information and incited ethnic hatred, according to news reports and the website's editor, who is based overseas and who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. The...
CPJ welcomes new probe into murder of Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga
September 27, 2016 3:24 PM ET
New York, September 27, 2016--Sri Lankan police today exhumed the body of slain journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga as part of a new investigation into his death in 2009, according to news reports. A Sri Lankan judge this month granted permission for the police to exhume the editor's body due to contradictory...
Sri Lankan journalist Freddy Gamage back in hospital, still under threat
June 14, 2016 12:58 PM ET
Back on June 3, we called for "a thorough investigation into an attack" on Freddy Gamage, a muckraking editor and blogger for Meepura.com (and in Sinhala). At the time, the government promised on its official website that it "would never again allow media suppression, which prevailed during the past, to...
Masked men attack muckraking Sri Lankan editor
June 3, 2016 3:39 PM ET
New York, June 3, 2016 -- Sri Lankan authorities should ensure a thorough investigation into an attack on the editor of the Sinhala-language Meepura newspaper Thursday and hold the perpetrators responsible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today....
Getting Away With Murder
October 8, 2015 12:01 PM ET
Iraq's move away from the top spot is based on a number of factors, few of them encouraging; only one conviction has been achieved in Iraq. The Impunity Index examines unsolved murders over the previous decade in which journalism is the confirmed motive. The first couple of years of...
CPJ welcomes arrests in 2010 disappearance of Sri Lankan journalist Prageeth Eknelygoda
August 24, 2015 12:25 PM ET
New York, August 24, 2015--At least four Sri Lankan army officers were arrested on Monday and accused of involvement in the January 2010 disappearance of Prageeth Eknelygoda, a political cartoonist and columnist, according to news reports. Another army officer and two civilians were arrested earlier this month, reports said. The...
Sri Lanka moves to re-establish restrictive media regulatory body
July 7, 2015 12:06 PM ET
New York, July 7, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about Sri Lankan authorities' decision to re-establish the Sri Lankan Press Council, a media regulatory body which gives the government powers to jail journalists in connection with their reporting....
Drawing the line: Cartoonists under threat
May 19, 2015 12:01 AM ET
On January 7, two gunmen burst into the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing eight journalists and bringing into focus the risks cartoonists face. But with the ability of their work to transcend borders and languages, and to simplify complex political situations, the threats faced by cartoonists around...