Sri Lankan Editors receive threats

Yet another Editor and News Editor of the paper headed by Lasantha Wickrematunge, Editor of the Colombo-based Sunday Leader who was gunned down in broad-day light by unidentified gun men in January, have received death threats.

A report on the front page of the paper dated October 25 under the title "And now they come us" said, "Once again Editors at The Sunday Leader are under threat. Last Thursday, October 22, Frederica Jansz, Editor-in-Chief of this newspaper and Munza Mushtaq, News Editor, were both sent two hand written death threats by post."

Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister for Human Rights and Disaster Management, in response to questions at a news conference here said the government would investigate the alleged threat and get to the bottom of the matter.

"The two letters are identical — written in red ink and appear to have been posted on October 21, 2009. Coincidentally, the late Lasantha Wickrematunge, founder Editor-in-Chief of

The Sunday Leader was sent a similar missive — also written in red ink — in December last year, three weeks before he was murdered," said the paper.

The report said The Sunday Leader has continued to come under attack. It said that in May, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa brought a fresh case against it and Mr. Jansz alleging contempt of court for having carried a profile on him days after he won the war.

"Thereafter, continuing this war against

The Sunday Leader , in September, the Web page of the Media Centre for National Security carried a slanderous article refuting certain statements made to Al Jazeera by Frederica Jansz in relation to the infamous Channel 4 video."

The report said the paper had been controversial "because we say it like we see it: whether it be a spade, a thief or a murderer, we call it by that name. We do not hide behind euphemism".