[5] The Sunday Leader was shut down by the Sri Lankan government on 22 May 2000 using the recently passed censorship law – the Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions and Powers) Regulation No.1 of 2000.
[6][7] The government's chief censor Ariya Rubasinghe had ordered that the newspaper cease publication for six months (22 May 2000 to 21 November 2000) following an article in the paper which mocked the country's censorship of the military situation imposed after the embarrassing defeat in the Second Battle of Elephant Pass.
[11][12] On 5 September 2000 Lasantha Wickrematunge was found guilty of criminally defaming Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1995 article in The Sunday Leader.
[13][14] Government minister Mahinda Wijesekara threatened to kill Lasantha Wickrematunge in Parliament on 27 July 2003, saying: "Very soon I'll put him in a room and have him shot or he will be stabbed to death!
[18] In late December 2006 an unsuccessful attempt was made to arrest Lasantha Wickrematunge for "endangering national security" after The Sunday Leader published a report exposing a Rs.
[8][19] Journalist Arthur Wamanan Sornalingam and his mother were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department on 24 October 2007 following a complaint from government minister Mano Wijeyeratne.
[32] Sarath Fonseka, the former commander of the Sri Lanka Army, and candidate of the 2010 presidential election who was quoted in the article, initially denied the story, but The Sunday Leader subsequently refuted the denial.
"[39][40] In September 2012 Asanga Seneviratne, an ally of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, bought a 72% stake in The Sunday Leader and its sister newspaper the Iruresa.
[42] In 2015 May, The Sunday Leader tendered an unconditional apology to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa for a series of articles regarding the purchase of MIG 27 airplanes for the Sri Lanka Air Force.
[47][48] In 2018 October, The Sunday Leader newspaper and website have suspended operation due to the political turmoil in Sri Lanka after the removal of the Prime Minister by the President.
[51][52] The attack came after The Sunday Leader exposed irregular financial dealings between Minister of Posts, Telecommunication and the Media Mangala Samaraweera and Sri Lanka Telecom CEO Kamitsumo.
[53] Two photographers for The Sunday Leader, Lakmal Spencer and Ashoka Fernando, were amongst a group of media personnel who were attacked by the police as they covered an opposition rally in Colombo on 15 July 1999.
[57][58] The attack came after The Sunday Leader had published an article which alleged that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had misappropriated tsunami relief funds.
[69] On February 16, 2013 Sunday Leader's Faraz Shauketally, who holds dual British and Sri Lankan citizenship, was rushed to hospital after being shot in the neck.
On the 24th of August 2013 Journalist Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema's house was invaded by five armed men who held her at knifepoint as they searched her home before police burst in and shot one of the intruders dead, officials said.
Police described the pre-dawn intrusion as an attempted armed robbery but the island's main press freedom organisation, the Free Media Movement (FMM), said they suspected the attack was linked to her work.