Family of murdered Sri Lanka editor seek justice from new president

Family of murdered Sri Lanka editor seek justice from new president

The family of murdered Sri Lanka journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge appealed on Monday (September 23, 2024) to the island's new president to reopen an investigation into the internationally-condemned assassination.

The anti-establishment editor was murdered as he drove to work in January 2009 by attackers later identified by police as members of a military intelligence unit linked to the once-powerful Rajapaksa family.

Saturday's election of the country's first leftist president, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, had given the family "a renewed sense of hope" of justice, Wickrematunge's daughter Ahimsa said.

Also read: Slain Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge’s daughter files U.N. complaint

"We are hopeful that this leadership will bring a fresh perspective into finally addressing the atrocities that have taken place in Sri Lanka's recent human rights history," she said in a statement.

Wickrematunge had accused then defence ministry secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa of taking kickbacks in arms procurements, including the purchase of second-hand MiG jet fighters from Ukraine.

His family held Mr. Rajapaksa, who was at the time a US national, responsible for the killing and filed action in a California court, but it was put on hold after he acquired immunity when he became president in November 2019.