Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan lawyer and journalist (d. 2009)
Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge (5 April 1958 – 8 January 2009) was a Sri Lankan journalist, politician and human rights activist who was assassinated in January 2009.
Wickrematunge was the founder of The Sunday Leader and Leader Publications alongside his brother and was known for taking "governments of all hues to task", was a "virulent critic of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government", and had been "locked in a legal battle with the president's brother, defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was spearheading the battle against the LTTE rebels.
Wickrematunge's assassination caused a national frenzy being the country's most influential media personnel and one of the biggest political figures and raised questions about freedom of expression in the country. Wickrematunge's murder was widely condemned across the world. The Daily Mirror called it the "biggest blow" to media freedom in Sri Lanka, and the Editors Guild held the government responsible for the killing as it has failed to stop attacks against media personnel. The government also expressed shock at the killing, pledging to do everything in its power to catch his killers. Wickrematunge had been on Amnesty International's endangered list since 1998, when anti-tank shells were fired on his house.
1958Apr, 5
Lasantha Wickrematunge
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Events on 1958
- 13May
Richard Nixon
During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators. - 30May
Arlington National Cemetery
Memorial Day: The remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. - 16Jun
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed. - 18Aug
Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States. - 28Nov
French colonial empire
Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.