Defend media freedom, defend democracy
Statement by The Law & Society Trust (LST)
The Law & Society Trust (LST) shares the public outrage and revulsion over the assassination of Mr Lasantha Wickramatunga, Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Leader newspaper, on Thursday 8 January 2009, only metres away from the security cordon surrounding the Ratmalana Air Force Base.
The Sunday Leader newspaper has been a vigorous critic of the present and previous governments and has exposed corruption and abuse of office at the highest levels of State.
This cowardly murder of a leading media commentator follows the destruction of the main control room of Sri Lanka ’s largest private television and radio organisation, Maharaja Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), on 6 January 2009, through armed assault and arson.
Law enforcement agencies must carry out their mandatory duty in identifying the perpetrators of this and similar crimes such as the torching of the Sunday Leader press in 2007, abduction and brutal assault of Keith Noyahr in 2008, and the murder and harassment of media workers.
We call upon our fellow citizens to rise to protect the lives of journalists, lawyers, politicians, and human rights defenders on whom the gun could next turn, and to resist through peaceful protest and public action, the dismantling of democracy in Sri Lanka .
Law & Society Trust (LST)
3, Kynsey Terrace
Colombo 08
Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 (11) 269 1228 / 268 4845
Fax: +94 (11) 268 6843
www.lawandsocietytrust.org