''The Sunday Leader'' was an
English-language Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n weekly
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
published by
Leader Publications
''Leader Publications'' is a Sri Lankan newspaper publisher. Its publications are The Sunday Leader, Morning Leader and Iruresa It was founded by Lal Wickrematunge and Lasantha Wickrematunge
Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge ( si, ලසන ...
(Private) Limited. It was founded in 1994 and is published from
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 ...
. Its sister newspapers are the ''
Iruresa'' (''
Irudina'') and the defunct ''
The Morning Leader''. Founded by brothers
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 ...
and
Lal Wickrematunge, the newspaper is known for its outspoken and controversial news coverage. The newspaper and its staff have been attacked and threatened several times and its founding editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated.
History
''The Sunday Leader'' was founded in 1994 by brothers
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 ...
and
Lal Wickrematunge with the first edition being published on 19 June 1994. The newspaper was associated with
silent partner
A silent partner is one who shares in the profits and losses of a business, but is not involved in its management.
Silent partner or Silent Partners may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Silent Partner'', a 2005 film starring Tara Reid ...
and leading politician and presidential candidate
Gamini Dissanayake
Dissanayake Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Lionel Gamini Dissanayake, PC (known as Gamini Dissanayake; si, ලයනල් ගාමිණි දිසානායක, ta, காமினி திஸாநாயக்க; 20 March 1942 – 24 Octob ...
who was assassinated on 24 October 1994.
''The Sunday Leader'' was shut down by the
Sri Lankan government
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 isl ...
on 22 May 2000 using the recently passed censorship law – the ''Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions and Powers) Regulation No.1 of 2000''. The government's chief censor Ariya Rubasinghe had ordered that the newspaper cease publication for six months (22 May 2000 to 21 November 2000) following an article in the paper which mocked the country's censorship of the military situation imposed after the embarrassing defeat in the
Second Battle of Elephant Pass
The Second Battle of Elephant Pass (code-named Operation Unceasing Waves III (ஓயாத அலைகள் மூன்று) by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), was a battle fought in April 2000 for the control of the Sri Lankan mi ...
.
The
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
locked Leader Publications' printing facility and installed armed guards outside the building. Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge subsequently filed a
fundamental rights
Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Susta ...
application with the
Supreme Court challenging the closure. On 30 June 2000 the Supreme Court ruled that the ban on ''The Sunday Leader'' was illegal and ordered the police to re-open the newspaper immediately.
On 5 September 2000 Lasantha Wickrematunge was found guilty of criminally defaming
Sri Lankan President
The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...
Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1995 article in ''The Sunday Leader''.
Wickrematunge was sentenced to two years in jail,
suspended for five years.
[
Government minister ]Mahinda Wijesekara
Mahinda Wijesekera is a Sri Lankan politician, former Fisheries cabinet minister and a former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
In 2001, Wijesekara left the President Chandrika Kumaratunga's ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party and joined United ...
threatened to kill Lasantha Wickrematunge in Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
on 27 July 2003, saying: "Very soon I'll put him in a room and have him shot or he will be stabbed to death!"[ The threat followed the expose of corruption in Wijesekara's ministry.][
Lasantha Wickrematunge was threatened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa using abusive language in a telephone call on 11 January 2006.][ According to Wickrematunge the president had threatened to destroy him saying "Fuck your mother, you son of a bloody whore!...I treated you well all this while. Now I will destroy you".][ Wickrematunge was detained briefly at ]Bandaranaike International Airport
Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) ( si, බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, translit=Bandāranāyaka Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; ta, பண்டாரநாயக்க ...
on 21 February 2006 as he arrived for a flight to Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
.[ Airport officials had claimed that Wickrematunge required "special permission" to leave Sri Lanka. In late December 2006 an unsuccessful attempt was made to arrest Lasantha Wickrematunge for "endangering national security" after ''The Sunday Leader'' published a report exposing a Rs. 500 million luxury bunker to be built in the presidential complex.][
Journalist Arthur Wamanan Sornalingam and his mother were arrested 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 ...
on 24 October 2007 following a complaint from government minister Mano Wijeyeratne
Nissanka Manodha Wijeyeratne ( Sinhala: නිශ්ශංක මනෝද විජයරත්න) (28 July 1957 – 29 October 2011) (known as ''Mano Wijeyeratne'') was a former Politician, Government Minister, Coordinating Secretary to th ...
. The arrest followed an article in
''The Sunday Leader'' which alleged that a government department had paid Wijeyeratne's wife's mobile phone bill. Investigative editor Dilrukshi Handunetti was forced to hand over documents relating to the article to the police.[ Sornalingam subsequently filed a fundamental rights application with the Supreme Court in relation to the arrest.
On 5 December 2008 a judge ordered Leader Publications not to publish any reports about Defence Secretary ]Gotabhaya Rajapaksa
Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa ( si, නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; ta, நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan military ...
, brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, for two weeks. Gotabhaya had gone to the courts to sue Leader Publications for Rs.
Rupee is the common name for the currencies of
India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...
2 billion (€14 million) in damages for publishing "slanderous" reports about him.[
Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was shot dead on 8 January 2009. ]Frederica Jansz
Frederica Jansz is a Sri Lankan journalist and former editor of ''The Sunday Leader''.
During her time at newspaper she was highly critical of Sri Lanka's government. Her predecessor Lasantha Wickrematunge had been assassinated, and Jansz was s ...
became editor of the newspaper following Wickrematunge's murder. On 22 October 2009 Jansz News Editor Munza Mushtaq were sent handwritten death threats through the post. "We will slice you up if you do not stop your writing," the letters threatened. Jansz told Reporters Without Borders Wickrematunge had been sent an identical letter which was compared by a Graphologist
Graphology is the analysis of handwriting with attempt to determine someone's personality traits. No scientific evidence exists to support graphology, and it is generally considered a pseudoscience or scientifically questionable practice. Howe ...
who said all three letters were written by the same fist.
''The Sunday Leader'' carried an article on 13 December 2009 entitled "Gota Ordered Them To Be Shot", alleging that Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa ordered the then commander of the 58 Division, Major General Shavendra Silva
General Shavendra Silva, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP ( si, ශවේන්ද්ර සිල්වා, ta, ஷவேந்திர சில்வா) is a Sri Lanka Army officer. He is the Chief of Defence Staff and former Commander o ...
, to shoot down the surrendering LTTE leaders during the final days of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Sarath Fonseka
Field Marshal Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka ( si, ගාර්දිහේවා සරත් චන්ද්රලාල් ෆොන්සේකා, ta, சரத் பொன்சேகா; born 18 December 1950), commonly know ...
, the former commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
...
of the Sri Lanka Army
ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம்
, image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png
, image_size = 180px
, caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army
, start_date ...
, and candidate of the 2010 presidential election who was quoted in the article, initially denied the story, but ''The Sunday Leader'' subsequently refuted the denial. The story resulted in Fonseka being charged with ""propagating a false rumour", a violation of emergency regulations. In November 2011 Fonseka was found guilty and sentenced to three years in jail and fined Rs. 5,000.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa threatened Leader Publications chairman Lal Wickrematunge in a phone call on 19 July 2011 after the publication of an article that claimed the president and his son Namal Rajapaksa
Lakshman Namal Rajapaksa ( si, ලක්ශ්මන් නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ; born 10 April 1986; known as Namal Rajapaksa) is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the eldest of son of Sri Lankan former President and Prime Minister M ...
had received payments from China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
for use "at their discretion". According to Wickrematunge the president had said: "...if you attack me personally, I will know how to attack you personally too."[
Editor Frederica Jansz was threatened and insulted by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a phone call on 6 July 2012. According to Jansz the Defence Secretary said: "Yes, I threatened you. Your type of journalists are pigs who eat shit!...I will put you in jail!... People will kill you!!! People hate you!!!"
In September 2012 Asanga Seneviratne, an ally of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, bought a 72% stake in ''The Sunday Leader'' and its sister newspaper the ''Iruresa''.] Seneviratne is managing director of Asia Fort Asset Management (Pvt) Ltd and vice president of Sri Lanka Cricket
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national spo ...
. He is also president of Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union and controversially appointed President Rajapaksa's son Yoshitha Rajapaksa as captain of the Sri Lanka national rugby union team.[ ''The Sunday Leader'' had published a number of reports exposing Seneviratne's property developments and investment deals.][ According to editor Frederica Jansz, Seneviratne asked her stop publishing articles critical of the Sri Lankan government and the ]Rajapaksa family
The Rajapaksa family ( si, රාජපක්ෂ, translit=Rājapakṣa) is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in politics. It was one of Sri Lanka's most powerful families during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency, when many members of the fami ...
.[ She refused and on 21 September 2012 she was sacked as editor.][ Jansz was replaced by Sakuntala Perera as editor of ''The Sunday Leader''. Seneviratne denies Jansz claims.][
In 2015 May, The Sunday Leader tendered an unconditional apology to ]Gotabhaya Rajapaksa
Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa ( si, නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; ta, நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan military ...
for a series of articles regarding the purchase of MIG 27 airplanes for the Sri Lanka Air Force.
In 2018 October, The Sunday Leader newspaper and website have suspended operation due to the political turmoil in Sri Lanka after the removal of the Prime Minister by the President.
Attacks
''The Sunday Leader'' and its employees have been subject to numerous attacks since its foundation in 1994. Lasantha Wickrematunge was assaulted on his way home in 1994. On 7 February 1995 Lasantha Wickrematunge and his ex-wife were pulled from their car and beaten.[ On the night of 18 June 1998 Lasantha Wickrematunge's house in ]Nugegoda
Nugegoda ( si, නුගේගොඩ) is a large, densely populated suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is located in the border of Sri Jayawardenapura Municipal Council limits and Dehiwela Mt. Lavinia Municipal Council limits, just outside Colombo ...
was attacked with Type 56 assault rifle
The Type 56 (; literally; "Assault Rifle, Model of 1956") is a Chinese 7.62×39mm rifle. It is a variant of the Soviet-designed AK-47 (specifically Type 3) and AKM rifles.Miller, David (2001). ''The Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns''. ...
s causing extensive damage and narrowly missing Wickrematunge's driver. The attack came after ''The Sunday Leader'' exposed irregular financial dealings between Minister of Posts, Telecommunication and the Media Mangala Samaraweera
Mangala Pinsiri Samaraweera (21 April 1956 – 24 August 2021; si, මංගල පින්සිරි සමරවීර, ta, மங்கள சமரவீர; ) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the first openly gay politician from Sr ...
and Sri Lanka Telecom
SLT-MOBITEL (formerly known as Sri Lanka Telecom, si, ශ්රී ලංකා ටෙලිකොම්, Śrī Laṃkā Ṭelikom, ta, ஸ்ரீலங்கா டெலிகொம்) is the national telecommunications services provide ...
CEO Kamitsumo.
Two photographers for ''The Sunday Leader'', Lakmal Spencer and Ashoka Fernando, were amongst a group of media personnel who were attacked by the police as they covered an opposition rally in Colombo on 15 July 1999. The two men filed a fundamental rights application with the Supreme Court and in October 2001 they were awarded damages of Rs. 86,625 and Rs. 72,750.
On the night of 16 October 2005 armed men entered the printing press of Leader Publications, threatened the manager with "dire consequences" if the newspapers continued to be printed and then set fire to bundles of newspapers. The attack came after ''The Sunday Leader'' had published an article which alleged that Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Mahinda Rajapaksa had misappropriated tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...
relief funds.
The printing press of Leader Publications in Ratmalana
Ratmalana is a suburb in Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is inside the administration boundary of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council. Ratmalana is situated 14.6 km south of Colombo city centre. Ratmalana Airport locat ...
was burnt down on 21 November 2007 by a group of armed masked men who entered the building, poured petrol on the printing machines and set fire to them. The attack came after ''The Morning Leader'' had been critical of the Asian Tribune
The ''Asian Tribune'' is an online newspaper. Their funding is unknown, and critics, such as the Sri Lanka Guardian, consider their journalism to be of poor quality. The publication is owned by K.T. Rajasingham, who is also a writer for the publi ...
's relationship with a government backed paramilitary group.[
Lasantha Wickrematunge was shot dead on 8 January 2009 in Colombo. Three days later an editorial appeared in ''The Sunday Leader'' written by Wickrematunge before his death in which he predicted his own murder, stating "it will be the government that kills me". Wickrematunge and his newspaper had been highly critical of the government and he had been attacked before. He had been assaulted twice before and his house had been sprayed with machine-gun fire. A number of people including seventeen army personnel were arrested in relation to Wickrematunge's murder but later released. To date no one has been brought to justice for Wickrematunge's murder.]
On February 16, 2013 Sunday Leader's Faraz Shauketally, who holds dual British and Sri Lankan citizenship, was rushed to hospital after being shot in the neck.
Shauketally was on the phone to a colleague at the Sunday Leader on Friday evening at his home in Mount Lavinia when the call was cut.
Shortly afterwards he answered a call and said he had been shot in the neck by three intruders, who had then escaped.
President Rajapaksa said he would investigate the incident but nobody was apprehended.
On the 24th of August 2013 Journalist Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema's house was invaded by five armed men who held her at knifepoint as they searched her home before police burst in and shot one of the intruders dead, officials said.
Police spokesman Buddhika Siriwardena said three officers were injured when the intruders attacked them with knives. "One intruder was shot dead and the other four have been arrested," he said.
Police described the pre-dawn intrusion as an attempted armed robbery but the island's main press freedom organisation, the Free Media Movement (FMM), said they suspected the attack was linked to her work.
See also
*List of newspapers in Sri Lanka
The List of newspapers in Sri Lanka lists every daily and non-daily news publication currently operating in Sri Lanka. The list includes information on whether it is distributed daily or non-daily, and who publishes it. For those newspapers that ar ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunday Leader, The
Leader Publications
English-language newspapers published in Sri Lanka
Publications established in 1994
Sunday newspapers published in Sri Lanka
Mass media in Colombo