Dharisha Bastians also spelt as either Darisha Bastians or Darisha Bastian is a Sri Lankan journalist and human rights activist. She was the Editor of the ''

Sunday Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' and a contributor to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Career

Dharisha has written several articles extensively based on human rights, militarization, democracy and political rights in Sri Lanka. Her article ''Navy Abduction Case'' received wide international attention which covered about alleged abduction of 11 Tamil young men in extortion in 2008. She also reported regarding the assassination of prominent ''

The Sunday Leader ''The Sunday Leader'' was an English-language Sri Lankan weekly newspaper published by Leader Publications (Private) Limited. It was founded in 1994 and is published from Colombo. Its sister newspapers are the '' Iruresa'' ('' Irudina'') and the ...

'' journalist

Lasantha Wickrematunge Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge ( si, ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග, ta, லசந்த விக்கிரமதுங்க; 5 April 1958 – 8 January 2009) was a high-profile Sri Lankan journalist, politician, br ...

in 2009. In July 2018, she and her family received threats from Pro-Rajapaksa supporters regarding legal action against them for contributing to an article to ''The New York Times'' which exposed about the Chinese investment in

Hambantota Hambantota ( si, හම්බන්තොට, ta, அம்பாந்தோட்டை) is the main town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri LankaThe prominent Malays (මැලේ) most part of the population is to be partly des ...

harbour including of Chinese funds which flowed during

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

's presidential campaign prior to the 2015 Sri Lanka presidential election. She also reportedly left Sri Lanka following the 2019 Sri Lanka presidential election. In June 2020, her residence was raided and her laptop was seized by the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

in connection with the alleged abduction of a female staff worker of the Swiss Embassy in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

who was reportedly kidnapped by unidentified men. Bastians was accused of having close connection with the Swiss staff employee. The international human rights organisations condemned the actions of the

Government of Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the is ...

and urged to end the continuous prosecution and harassment of Bastians.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastians, Dharisha 20th-century Sri Lankan women writers 21st-century Sri Lankan women writers Living people Sri Lankan editors Sri Lankan women journalists Year of birth missing (living people)