The daughter of murdered Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge said that “Rajapaksa’s election has closed every door to human rights and accountability in Sri Lanka” in a piece for the Washington Post this week, as she called for the international community to ensure “murderous autocrats pay a price”. “I hold Rajapaksa responsible,” wrote Ahimsa Wickrematunge.
Ahimsa Wickrematunge, the daughter of murdered journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge wrote a piece for Groundviews marking the 12th anniversary of his death and detailing why his killers have never punished. Lasantha Wickrematunge had been investigating a deal made towards the end of the armed conflict in 2009, in which the Sri Lankan air force was looking to buy new bomber jets. The planes supplied to the Rajapaksa regime were used to indiscriminately bomb Tamil civilians in the closing stages of the war and a portion of the money used to purchase the planes were redirected to close associates of the Rajapaksa’s.