Sampath Lakmal de Silva

Infobox journalist
name =Sampath Lakmal de Silva


birth_date=
birth_place=
death_date=July 2, 2006
death_place=Colombo
occupation = Freelance press and Television journalist
ethnic = Sri Lankan
credits = Specialist in Defence articles

Sampath Lakmal de Silva was a Sri Lankan Freelance press and Television journalist specialising in Defence articles and wrote for various publications including Irudina, Lakbima, Sathdina and TNL and he also worked for various Television channels earlier he was the defence correspondent for Isathdina Weekly .He was found shot dead on July 2 2006 in Dehiwela in Colombo.

Background

Sampath Lakmal de Silva was supposed to have possessed sensitive information regarding Defence personal and there had been threats to him in the past.He was a well known and reliable informant on defence matters.There are reports he was a double agent for both the Sri Lankan Intelligence and the LTTE but there is no clear evidence on this. [ [http://www.nation.lk/2006/07/09/newsfe2.htm News Features ] ] [ [http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=2603 Latest news from Sri Lanka in Sinhala, English and Tamil - (Lankaenews) ] ] Upcountry Peoples' Front (UPF), V. Radhakrishnan said that Sampath Lakmal de Silva had information about killing done by the Army. [ [http://www.freemediasrilanka.org/index.php?action=con_news_full&id=244&section=news Freemedia ] ]

Incident

Sampath Lakmal de Silva received phones and went to meet Defence personal whom he knew very well and his mother Rupa de Silva overhead him greeting the person at the other end as "Kumar Sir" and it was later revealed he had meet one Lieutenant Kumara.Later his body was found in Dehiwela.

Reaction

The International Federation of Journalists condemned the murder.Bquote|"The IFJ supports its affiliates in Sri Lanka in condemning the murder of de Silva, and in calling upon authorities to investigate the case immediately so that those responsible can be brought to justice as soon as possible,” ", Warren added Bquote|“Sri Lankan authorities must take more responsibility for these attacks and establish stronger protections for media workers to prevent journalists like de Silva senselessly losing their lives just for doing their jobs [ [http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?index=4022&Language=EN International Federation of Journalists ] ]

Government Investigation

Sri Lankan defence personal were questioned. [ [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/jul2006/sril-j12.shtml Sri Lankan military personnel questioned over murder of journalist ] ]

ee also

*Sri Lankan civil war
*Human Rights in Sri Lanka
*Notable assassinations of the Sri Lankan Civil War

References

External links

* [http://www.freemedia.at/PDF_Reports/SriLanka_mission_report.pdf Sri Lanka mission report]
* [http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10956 Nine recommendations for improving media freedom in Sri Lanka – RSF]
* [http://www.humanrights-geneva.info/article.php3?id_article=1618 Media in Sri Lanka]
* [http://www.ifj-asia.org/page/sri_lanka1.html Free Speech in Sri Lanka]