A former Sri Lankan soldier who won a gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo this week has been granted a military promotion, according to the Sri Lankan army.
Sergeant Dinesh Priyantha Herath has been praised by Sri Lankan government and military officials, and by the British High Commission in Colombo, for his performance at the games.
So proud to see Sri Lanka's Dinesh Priyantha set a new World Record. Go team SL!#Paralympics #ParaAthletics #ParalympicsTokyo2020 https://t.co/TG0XU3RZav
— UK in Sri Lanka (@UKinSriLanka) August 30, 2021
The former soldier served on the front lines of the Sri Lankan military when it launched a massive offensive that would go on to kill tens of thousands of Tamil civilians. He was injured in his arm in December 2008.
Priyatha joined the Sri Lanka army in 2004 at the age of 18 and served during the final phases of the conflict in the 3rd division of the Gajaba Regiment. The regiment has a dire record on human rights with figures such as Sunil Ratnayake, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Shavendra Silva, Jagath Dias, and Kamal Gunaratne serving in it. These figures have been implicated in grievous human rights abuses and accused of crimes including genocide.
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