Sources from Sri Lanka's hill capital Kandy says that rescue operations are underway to save the lives of several people that are buried under a collapsed earth mound in Getambe village.
At lease 20 people are believed to be buried alive when an earth mound collapsed on five houses.
The number of deaths has not been confirmed yet but at least five bodies have been recovered, reports say.
The people of the area have heard a loud noise Sunday morning as the earth slip occurred. Several people have escaped the disaster and a few more have been rescued from the debris and admitted to the hospital, sources said.
Sri Lanka Police, armed forces, Fire Brigade, and volunteers are engaged in the rescue operation.
The Sunday Leader .............................................................................................................................................................................................
Police, on Wednesday, informed the Mount Lavinia courts that investigations were being carried out based on information regarding the involvement of a former member of Army Intelligence and a garage owner in the assassination of the Editor of The Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge.
Police informed this to court when the case was taken up before Mount Lavinia Chief Magistrate Nirosha Fernando last Wednesday. Saturday (8) marked the second anniversary of Lasantha Wickrematunge’s assassination.
Wickrematunge was killed by men on motorcycles as he was driving to work. They blocked his car’s path near Malagalage Primary School, smashed its window and beat him with a steel weapon. He was taken unconscious to the Kalubowila hospital where he died from his head injuries. Several witnesses said no shots were heard and no bullet impacts were found. Strangely, the autopsy findings have never been released.
The attack took place just several hundred meters from an air force checkpoint but the assailants were able to get away. One of the motorcycles was found by the police but it is still not known if it was of any help in tracking down the assailants.
Meanwhile, counsel appearing on behalf of the accused informed court that the Criminal Investigations Department, which conducted investigations into the suspects arrested 11 months ago, had handed over the reports of those investigations to the Terrorist Investigations Department (TID).
The counsel pointed out that no progress reports had been produced before court. Accordingly the Chief Magistrate ordered officers of the TID to produce a progress report on investigations carried out to date on the 14th of this month.
The investigation into Wickrematunge’s murder was initially assigned to Mount Lavinia Police Station but a police source said it was not given any special priority. The authorities said four teams were assigned to this case and to an attack on MTV, but no significant results have been reported even two years later.
The case will be taken up again on the 14th of this month.
By Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge | Reporters Sans Frontières .............................................................................................................................................................................................
Lasantha Wickrematunge was a journalist who fought fearlessly for the freedom of the press and relentlessly pursued what he believed was right.
It is a sad tribute to Sri Lanka’s growing indifference to democratic principles, justice ands fair play and the present regime’s strangle hold on the media and democratic institutions, that even 24 months after his murder there has been no conclusion to Lasantha’s murder investigation. Even as the so-called investigation fell apart, I wrote President Rajapakse a letter on April 24, 2009 and again on January 4, 2010 calling for an independent international inquiry into my husband’s death. I also wrote to then-Inspector General of Police Jayantha Wickremaratne requesting his cooperation. Yet no real progress has been made except to make his murder a speaking point of every election campaign in order to throw allegations at political oppnents. President Rajapakse has reduced Lasantha’s investigation to a political circus.
As we commemorate Lasantha’s death anniversary we much not forget those other brave journalists who have also paid the supreme sacrifice in the pursuit of their craft. Several other journalists have been attacked or otherwise threatened, resulting in their being forced to flee Sri Lanka. Yet others have been coerced into submission. At no time in the history of our country has the freedom of expression been so brutally been repressed as it is now. Such media as do operate in the country have been transformed into propaganda mouthpieces for the government, or into flaccid shells of their former integrity, bullied into submission through draconian pieces of legislation or emergency regulations.
The danger for Sri Lanka’s people is that the subversion of democratic mechanisms and violence against democratic institutions continues unabated in a time of peace. And yet now the war has ended the international community will conveniently choose to see only an outer façade of peace. Tiny Sri Lanka, though deeply troubled and under the jackboot of an authoritarian regime will once more recede into the background of the international consciousness as other more pressing issues of more importance to the world emerge.
Meanwhile President Rajapakse’s priorities are now to attract foreign investment and increase trade while defending his army and his political family against allegations of war crimes.
He continues to use his large majority and the enormous powers vested in his administration to perpetuate authoritarianism and the culture of impunity while obliterating any remnants of a free media.
Last September he lifted Presidential term limits and gave himself unlimited power over judicial, police and other public service appointments and removed constitutional safeguards over the electoral process.
Certainly it is not uncommon in societies that have undergone violent insurgencies or civil wars (And Sri Lanka’s people were weary of a war that lasted 27 years) to tolerate and even embrace authoritarian hawkish governments that are perceived as taking a tough and relentless stand in defense of public security. They tend to enjoy widespread support and are able to amass considerable power, even if known to be violating civil liberties and human rights.
I do sincerely believe that given time the war weary people of Sri Lanka will once again see the Rajapakse regime for what it really is – a self serving parasite on Sri Lanka’s escutcheon.
However the danger is that over time even as the people come to this realization there will be no tolerance whatsoever for any kind of political uprising to restore sanity and true democracy as by that time the Rajapakse regime would have completely constitutionalised their authoritarianism and tyranny and militarized the entire system, and it is at these desperate times that bloody revolutions may again take place. This is what we must try to avoid and this is why the government must stretch out a sincere hand of hope to the war ravaged people of the north and restore immediately and with urgent attention the democratic institutions including a truly independent media in the country.
Statement to RSF by Lasantha Wickrematunge’s widow and fellow editor Sonali Samarasinghe on his second death anniversary | January 8, 2011
By Ahimsa Wickrematunge | The Sunday Times .............................................................................................................................................................................................
Two years ago, the Sunday Leader founder editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, was brutally murdered by an armed gang in the high-security area near Attidiya. As the cowardly murder, which shocked the country and drew international headlines, still remains a mystery with his killers still at large, his only daughter sent us this appreciation, where she reminisces Lasantha the father.
The morning of January 8, 2009: I sat with you while you had your breakfast; you kissed me goodbye like you always did. I still remember the song that was playing as you were, unknowingly, preparing for death. Ironically enough, it was Pink Floyd's 'Great Gig in The Sky’.
Two sad years have passed since the day you left home never to return, but to me the shock of losing you seems like it happened just yesterday. The violent events of that traumatic day have been branded into my mind forever.
If only I had had the tiniest of inklings of what was waiting out there for you, I would never have let you leave through that door. And then soon after, to pass by the TV and hear the news, I can't begin to explain how shocking and painful that was. After that it was just a blur.. a nightmare that I have still, barely woken up from.
My mother, brothers and I dream of you so often... you tell me so many things in my dreams and when I wake up it still seems so real.
Life just goes on for us; so much has happened since you were taken; our lives have changed, yet nothing seems to matter much without you here Thathi. To me, each day is just another day without you. Aadesh is beginning to look more like you every day. He will be starting high school soon.
We had bittersweet sentiments on the day of his primary school graduation thinking how proud you would have felt seeing him on that stage receiving his certificate. We still laugh about how you would watch his school plays here in Melbourne with tears streaming down your eyes. You were always quick with the waterworks, embarrassing us each time you left Melbourne with your bawling, but now it is us who are left with the tears of grief.
Your picture smiles at us everyday... and we know you are looking down at us, blessing us with your every thought. Your love was so great, I feel it even now. How many times have you told us, "If you need a heart, I will rip mine out for you." Drama queen though you were, you meant every word.
We miss your pranks, your guffawing laughter, your teasing… but most of all we just miss your loving, kind presence. You were my best friend and I wish everyone can have the relationship with their father that I had with you.
You weren't a man who let success get to your head; you remained humble, treating everyone including our domestics with patience and kindness. Now, all I can do is reminisce the happy times we shared and do acts of kindness and generosity in your honour.
You believed in equality and justice for all humanity. You taught me and my two brothers that all religions, races, colour and sexual orientations were equal and deserved the same rights and respect. Murder is always heinous but the slaying of a journalist is the annihilation of freedom and the murder of truth. It is the cruellest smite at the very heartbeat of a nation. But I take comfort and pride in the fact that you have, with your courage, inspired a whole generation of writers who will follow in your indelible footsteps.
World history shows us that in this world of corruption and self-aggrandisement, there are those who cannot handle change and will crush anyone brave enough to strive for it under their monstrous jackboot. You strove for change; you dared to dream of a better tomorrow for everyone. And in your pursuit of that ideal, you feared none. Indeed, you often said to me, if anyone were to attack you, you wouldn't run away but face your killer with courage.
At the risk of being called biased I'd say rare indeed are such brave men, so passionate in the pursuit of their mission. And as you wished, your death has "not been seen as the defeat of liberty but an inspiration for those who survive to step up their efforts and usher in a new era of human liberty in our motherland."
Thathi, I am proud to be your daughter just as Sri Lanka should rightly be proud to have produced a son so fearless as you.
Reporters Sans Frontières .............................................................................................................................................................................................
Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, a courageous, talented and iconoclastic journalist, was shot dead in Colombo by a death squad two years ago tomorrow. His murder is still unpunished.
Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the fact that the Sri Lankan government is doing nothing to solve this murder and in fact is clearly preventing the truth from coming to light. By blocking the investigation and by fostering a climate of impunity and indifference, the government has become an accomplice. Wickrematunga’s murder dealt a major blow to media freedom in Sri Lanka.
The press freedom organisation voices its support for the editor’s family and colleagues, including his widow, Sonali Samarasinghe, and his brother, Lal Wickrematunga, who are themselves journalists.
“We urge President Mahinda Rajapaksa to launch an exhaustive criminal investigation by requesting the assistance of international experts, so that the person responsible for this horrible murder can be identified,” Reporters Without Borders said.
" Lasantha was murdered two years ago and the investigation has not progressed beyond the perfunctory level. Although fingers have been pointed at Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the investigating arms seem to be waiting for a nod from politicians before making any significant moves. The arrests made thus far do not give the impression that an honest attempt is being made to find out who ordered the killing.
More than 50 hearings have been held before a magistrate’s court and the police still seem to be drawing a blank. Although 15 military intelligence officers were held for a brief period, they were released with no explanation being given to court. If Sarath Fonseka was responsible, as political analysts believe, the government should have charged him for murder instead of using military courts martial to try him for relatively a minor offence compared with murder. Lasantha’s family does not believe that the investigation is being conducted with any real purpose and it may take a long time, and a change of government, to get to the bottom of this heinous crime."
Interviewed about the anniversary, a local investigative journalist told Reporters Without Borders: “It is sad and shocking to see that, although two years have elapsed, the government and law enforcement officers have still not been able to make any key arrests in Lasantha’s murder (...) All pleas by Lasantha’s editorial staff and his family for a thorough investigation seem to be falling on deaf ears.”
The journalist added: “There has absolutely been no progress in Lasantha’s murder investigation and this is quite surprising as government ministers such as Mervyn Silva had publicly claimed that he knew who was responsible for Lasantha’s assassination but would not divulge it. If ministers can make public remarks of this sort, then it is only right for the authorities to question them and get to the bottom of who is responsible for Lasantha’s murder.”
The editor’s family, friends and colleagues will gather at his tomb at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow to mark the second anniversary of his death.
Two children were buried alive in mudslides on Sunday in Sri Lanka where more than 600,000 people have been driven out of their homes by floods, officials said.
A six-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl were killed in separate incidents in the district of Badulla.
Heavy rains have caused flooding in the island's central and eastern regions where more than 600,000 people were estimated to have moved to temporary shelters after their homes were flooded.
Sri Lanka depends on monsoon rains for irrigation and power generation but the seasonal downpours frequently cause deaths and damage to property in low-lying areas.
The island's two main monsoon seasons run from May to September and December to February.
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