By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Newspaper editor Upali Tennakoon and his wife were stabbed by four men on motorcycles on while driving to work in Colombo.

Tennakoon is editor for the Rivira, a weekly newspaper that is said to be neither pro-government nor pro-rebel.

The hospital treated Tennakoon and his wife for lacerations to the face and hands.  They are currently in stable condition.  After treatment, Tennakoon’s wife described the attack.  “They smashed the windscreen and began to attack us.”  She further stated, “I clung hard to them when they began to hit us with sticks and stab us.”

Reporters Without Borders stated, “We firmly condemn this latest attack on a newspaper editor, which highlights the severity of the crisis that journalists are currently experiencing in Sri Lanka.”  They continue, “The government must conduct an investigation in order to identify those responsible and their motives.”

President Rajapaksa reportedly ordered an investigation into the matter.  Media minister Anura Yapa said, “We totally condemn this type of attack, and we will do everything possible to find the culprits.”

Meanwhile, five journalists have fled the country and gone into hiding and a website stopped reporting due to threats of violence.  The five journalists are known to be Upul Joseph Fernando and Rathnapala Gamage, political reporters with Lankadeepa; Iqbal Athas of the Sunday Times and Anuruddha Lokuhappuarachchi, a photographer for Reuters.

The Press Freedom Organization stated, “It is deplorable that no concrete measures were taken to protect the news media after newspaper editor Lasantha Wickrematunga’s murder two weeks ago.  As a result of the climate of fear, the most independent journalists are fleeing the island, and the most outspoken media, such as the news website Lankadissent, are closing.”

In a report by Amnesty International in November, at least 10 media employees had been killed in Sri Lanka since 2006.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Sri Lankan Editor, Wife Wounded in Knife Attack – 23 January 20009

BBC – Fresh Media Attack in Sri Lanka – 23 January 2009

Reporters Without Borders – Newspaper Editor Injured in Stabbing Attack, Other Journalists Forced to Flee Island – 23 January 2009