Reporters Without Borders have expressed concern after Frederica Jansz, the editor of The Sunday Leader received death threats from the “Sinha Regiment”.
The handwritten letter in Sinhalese, was sent to the editor warning her over her involvement in the “White Flag” case, in which she is a key witness. In the case, Gen Fonseka is being tried over alleged “false statements” he gave in an interview to the Sunday Leader, where he claimed Defence Secretary Gothbaya Rajapakse gave the order to murder surrendering members of the LTTE.
Sent to her home, the letter warns of extreme violence and sexual abuse if she were to give evidence in the case, threatening that she would “not be spared”. A verdict is expected on November the 18th.
Jansz received similar threats in 2009, after publishing a story relating to the infamous Channel 4 execution video, reporting that the video was authentic.
See our earlier post: US ‘deeply concerned’ over Lanka’s media freedom (Nov 2011)