Lasantha Wickrematunge memorial lecture will take place in Toronto on September 21. Speakers will include Wickrematunge’s widow, journalist Sonali Samarasinghe who lives in exile in the United States and Sri Lankan scribe J.S. Tissainayagam who was arrested in 2008.
They will be joined by Stewart Bell, Author and Senior Reporter, National Post Sanjana Hattotuwa, TED Fellow and Editor, Groundviews.org for a panel discussion to examine press freedom and related human rights issues in Sri Lanka as part of a special event commemorating the life and times of leading Sri Lankan journalist and human rights activist Lasantha Wickrematunge.
Lasantha Wickrematunge, former Editor The Sunday Leader and Time magazine reporter was killed in broad daylight in Colombo by four armed assassins on motorcycle on January 8, 2009.
He was known for his critical coverage of successive Sri Lankan governments, Wickrematunge was a lawyer and politician before turning to journalism permanently. After many years of threats to him and his family, he was assassinated on January 8, 2009. In his final editorial written shortly before his death, which was published posthumously, Wickrematunge alleged, “when finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me.” The Government of Sri Lanka has denied any involvement in the matter and the case remains unsolved. In 2010, the International Press Institute declared Wickrematunge a World Press Freedom Hero.
In 2011, J.S. Tissainayagam who received a 20-year prison term on charges of “supporting” terrorism was pardoned by the Sri Lankan President.
Mr Tissainayagam edited the North-Eastern Monthly magazine. He was arrested in March 2008, accused of conspiring to cause ethnic violence through his articles. The journalist had denied the charges, saying he did not believe in violence.
Tissainayagam was named the first winner of the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism. “We are happy to reward J.S. Tissainayagam in 2009, a terrible year for Sri Lanka,” said Jean-Francois Julliard, secretary-general of the Paris-based press rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF). “J.S. Tissainayagam is one of those and should never have been imprisoned,” he said. “Sri Lankans have the right to be informed about what is happening on their island.”
Co-hosted by Sri Lankans Without Borders and the South Asian Journalists Association, and supported by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Journalists for Human Rights and PEN Canada, the event will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2013 from 12:00 – 5:00 PM in Room ENG 103, George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, Ryerson University, 245 Church St., Toronto, Ontario M5B 1Z2. The event is free however, requires tickets through SLWB’s website.
The lectures will be followed by a panel discussion with the speakers, moderated by Meena Nallainathan of Social Innovation Generation (SiG).
