Slain Lankan editor to get UN Press Freedom Prize

Sri Lankan journalist and editor Lasantha Wickrematunga has been posthumously awarded the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize. He was murdered earlier this year (January 8) while on duty.

The editor of the Sunday Leader first started his career as a lawyer and later began working as an investigating journalist. In 1994, he along with his brother started Sunday Leader and used this to campaign against the war between Sri Lankan army and Tamil rebels, the UNESCO said in a release.

In November 2007, the media outlet was hit in an arson attack that the editor Wickrematunge said resembled a “commando action”.

Wickrematunge expected to be assassinated and went so far as to write an editorial for publication after his death. The editorial was published on 11 January 2009, three days after he had been murdered.

The UN organisation in a press statement also said: “In his editorial, Wickrematunge voiced his commitment and readiness to die for press freedom: “[…] there is a calling that is yet above high office, fame, lucre and security. It is the call of conscience.”

UNESCO Director-General will present the World Press Freedom Prize in a ceremony on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, which UNESCO will celebrate this year in Doha, capital of Qatar.

Created in 1997 the Prize is awarded annually to honour the work of an individual or an organization defending or promoting freedom of expression anywhere in the world, especially if this action puts the individual’s life at risk.