Sri Lankan editor’s remains to be exhumed

A Sri Lankan court on Thursday gave permission to police to exhume the body of a high-profile newspaper editor whose murder under the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa regime remains unsolved.

The Colombo suburban Mount Lavinia magistrate’s court has issued the order on the killing of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematungein January 2009 following an application by the Police’s Crime Investigation Department (CID). Wickrematunge and his newspaper were staunch critics of Mr. Rajapaksa.

The reason for exhumation is to determine the exact cause of his death.

Autopsy inconclusive

The original autopsy report on the death by the Judicial Medical Officer had been inconclusive. The officer who carried out the autopsy reported that the death occurred due to gunshot wounds while the surgeon said the wounds were not from bullets, the police said.

The Sri Lankan government, led by President Maithripala Sirisena, had reopened investigations into Wickrematunge’s murder, pledging to arrest all those who were involved in the killing. The exhumation is expected to take place on September 27 at the Colombo General cemetery.