Homage to brave journalists - Lasatha Wichrematunge

Lasantha Wichrematunge was born in 1958 in Sri Lanka and was the youngest of six children. He spent some time in Britain and then returned to Sri Lanka where he started his journalistic career in 1980. He studied law, but he chose to practise journalism because it allowed him to do what he considered the most important thing in life: to look beneath the surface of things to get a better society.

Wichrematunge was the editor of Sri Lanka’s The Sunday Leader. He was famous for his style of journalism, critic towards the government. He defended investigative journalism in a country where democracy is in danger.

Lasantha wrote in a posthumous column published last January: “When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me”.

And he was right. On 8 january 2009, Wichrematunge was shot while he was on his way to work. Four motorcycles blocked his car before breaking his window and shooting him. He was taken to Colombo South General Hospital and was operated. Finally, after nearly three hours of surgery, the journalist died from his head wounds.

Wickrematunge’s murder caused an international outcry. For example, The Guardian, in its Editorial of 13 january 2009, described Lasantha as an “idealist of good journalism everywhere”.