Sri Lankan police have arrested five military intelligence officers on suspicion of assassinating a prominent anti-establishment newspaper editor and orchestrating attacks on other journalists and dissidents under the former regime, a legal source said Monday.
The 2009 killing of Lasantha Wickrematunge, a fierce critic of then President Mahinda Rajapaksa, sparked an international outcry.
Wickrematungehad accused Mr. Rajapaksa’s Defence Secretary and brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of taking kickbacks in arms purchases, and was due to testify in court when he was killed.
The source said the five men were taken into custody over the weekend.
Free Media Movement, a rights group, gave a cautious welcome to the arrests, urging the government to ensure an independent investigation into the allegations and resist “undue influence” from the powerful military.
President Maithripala Sirisena has publicly criticised police for holding military suspects for long periods.
