The Sri Lankan military “are trying to destroy evidence and intimidate the witnesses" said the wife of a disappeared journalist, as nine Sri Lankan soldiers face charges over his abduction.

Sandya Eknaligoda has been trying to seek justice for her husband Prageeth’s abduction for the past ten years. He was abducted in 2010 during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency, after he had looked into corruption that took place during the regime. The cartoonist was also investigating the use of chemical weapons by the army in the North-East during the armed conflict.

During the Rajapaksa regime, dozens of journalists and media workers were killed, the vast majority of them Tamil.

Eknaligoda’s disappearance was only probed by the previous Sri Lankan government in 2015, with nine army intelligence officers charged. They have since been released on bail, with the case to be taken up again on January 20^th.

However Sandya told reporters that some military intelligence officers "are attempting to intimidate the witnesses through various parties and to disrupt the court case”.

“This is a crime, don’t let them interfere with the court’s proceedings,” she added. “If that happens, we will be deprived of justice… Let the witnesses speak the truth, what they know and saw without any interference. Let's allow truth to prevail.”

The trial comes after Sri Lanka’s new president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has spoken out against the prosecution of Sri Lankan soldiers.

See more from the AP here.