Freedom of the press in Sri Lanka
[3] Various laws and regulations, such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1979 brought in to deal with Tamil militants, have been used by successive governments to suppress freedom of expression.
[8][9] Premakeerthi de Alwis, a broadcaster for the state-owned Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, was dragged from his house in Homagama and killed on the night of 31 July 1989.
[11] On the morning of 18 February 1990 Richard de Zoysa, a journalist for the Inter Press Service, was abducted by armed men from his home in Welikadawatte, Colombo.
[27][28] Nimalrajan was one of the first journalists to write about the Chemmani mass graves and he exposed vote-rigging and intimidation by the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), a government backed paramilitary group, during the 2000 parliamentary election.
[37][38][39] Balanadarajah Iyer (aka Sinna Bala), who was on the editorial board of the Thinamurasu newspaper, was shot dead in Wellawatte, Colombo on 16 August 2004.
[45][46] The Temptation 2004 concert had been heavily criticised by Sinhala nationalists because they claimed it fell on the first anniversary of the death of Buddhist monk Gangodawila Soma Thero.
[49][50] On the night of 28 April 2005 Taraki Sivaram, an editor for the TamilNet news website, was abducted by four men in a white van in front of a restaurant metres from Bambalapitiya police station, Colombo.
[61] Arumugam Sri Skandharaja (aka Peter), member of People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), a government backed paramilitary group, was arrested but the case against him was dropped.
[63] Relangi Selvarajah, a freelance journalist working for the state-owned Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, and her husband Sinnadurai were shot dead in Bambalapitiya, Colombo on 12 August 2005.
[69] Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan (Sugitharajah), a journalist for the Sudar Oli newspaper, was shot dead in Trincomalee near governor's secretariat on 24 January 2006.
[71][72][73] The day before his death Sugirdharajan had written an article in the Sudar Oli exposing abuses committed by the EPDP, a government backed paramilitary group, in the Trincomalee area.
[79][80][81] De Silva had written several articles critical of all sides, including corruption in the military intelligence unit and financial irregularities and internal disputes in the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and Jathika Hela Urumaya.
[84] According to Srilal Priyantha, deputy editor of Sathdina, de Silva had been abducted and tortured by army personnel in October 2005 after he had written an article about the financial corruption of the military intelligence unit.
[88][89] Sivamaharajah's house was inside the Valikamam North High Security Zone controlled by the Sri Lankan military and there was a curfew at the time of the murder.
[90] Chandrabose Suthaharan (Subash Chandraboas), editor of the Nilam magazine, was shot dead at his home in Thirunavatkulam near Vavuniya on 16 April 2007.
[97] Sahadevan Nilakshan (Sahathevan Deluxshan), editor of the student-run Chaalaram magazine, was shot dead outside his house in Kokkuvil on 1 August 2007.
[104] Rashmi Mohamed, a journalist for Sirasa TV, was killed by a suicide bombing at the opening of a new United National Party office in Anuradhapura on 6 October 2008.
[108][109] Three days later an editorial appeared in The Sunday Leader written by Wickrematunge before his death in which he predicted his own murder, stating "it will be the government that kills me".
