Sam Wijesinha passes away

Monday, 1 September 2014 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Former Parliamentary Secretary General and Parliamentary Ombudsman Sam Wijesinha passed away yesterday at the age of 93. Last month the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka honoured Wijesinha with the Sepala Gunasena 2013 Award for defending press freedom in Sri Lanka. Wijesinha, who retired a few months ago as Chairman of the Dispute Resolution Council of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka, was

given the prestigious award made in memory of the late publisher of Independent Newspapers Ltd., for his steadfast promotion of self regulation within the print media since 2003 and his consistent support for media freedom. He served as Clerk of the House of Representatives and was one time Crown Counsel, and was widely regarded as an accomplished personality. He was considered as the ultimate authority on matters pertaining to Parliament and many matters of governance. He was a past student of Getammanna School in his home village, Rahula College at Matara, Ananda College Colombo and St. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia. He was an attorney-at-law by profession and served in the Attorney General’s Department until he joined the parliament in 1964.