Mel Murder; Third In A String Of Attacks On Sri Lanka’s Top Business Reporters In The Last Year
February 3, 2014
Sunday’s murder of former editor of the Lanka Business Online and leading economic journalist Mel Gunesekera, is the third in a string of attacks on Sri Lanka’s top business reporters in the last year. In February last year the Sunday Leader journalist, Faraz Shaukatally, was shot by unidentified men and admitted to hospital. In August 2013 there was an attack on the house of the business editor of the Sunday Leader who was married to the Associate Editor of the same paper. The couple subsequently fled the country. Reporting on Sri Lanka’s economy has become an increasingly risky profession as it often unearthsallegations of corruption involving top politicians.
Mel
It’s not yet clear if the murder of Mel Gunasekera has a political angle or is just a robbery that went wrong, but in a country like Sri Lanka where so many critical journalists have been silenced there will always be those who wonder what she wrote that might have displeased the authorities.
According to the police all three attacks were robbery attempts.
Three top business journalists were attacked are;
February 16, 2013 – Sunday Leader JournalistFaraz Shaukatally was shot by an unidentified group. He was admitted to the Kalubowila hospital.
August 24, 2013 – The Sunday Leader business editor Romesh Abeywickrema‘s house ( Husband of the Associate Editor of The Sunday Leader newspaper Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema ) residence was attacked
February 02, 2014 – A leading economic journalist, former Agence France Presse (AFP) and Lanka Business Online editor Mel Gunesekera has been found murdered in her home in Battaramulla, a suburb of Colombo.
Mel
It’s not yet clear if the murder of Mel Gunasekera has a political angle or is just a robbery that went wrong, but in a country like Sri Lanka where so many critical journalists have been silenced there will always be those who wonder what she wrote that might have displeased the authorities.Suspect In Mel’s Murder Held For 48 hours; Questions Persist About Journalist’s Killing
February 3, 2014
The suspect in the murder of senior economic reporter Mel Gunasekera, Samson Joseph Anthony was produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate on Monday (3) and remanded into police custody for 48 hours more to permit investigators to interrogate him further.
Mel
Anthony was arrested by police investigative teams from the Mirihana Police in Dompe on Sunday evening.
The former Journalist’s mobile telephone – a blackberry – was also recovered from the suspect’s possession. Police Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said that the suspect had been a painter at Gunasekera’s home about a month previously and noted that the entire family attends mass every Sunday morning. However, Gunasekera had been unexpectedly at home last morning and surprised Anthony when he entered the house through a window early Sunday. The victim had been stabbed with a kitchen knife that had been obtained from Gunasekera’s own kitchen, Police said.
Gunasekera was found stabbed to death in her home in Battaramulla in the early hours of Sunday (2) morning, and discovered by her parents and brother after they returned home from church.
She was 40 years old and Assistant Vice President of Fitch Ratings Lanka at the time of her murder. She had previously worked as a correspondent at the AFP’s Colombo Bureau and was also the founding editor of Lanka Business Online. Gunasekera also served on the business desk of the Sunday Times. Read More
