Graveside memorial service tomorrow to mark 17th anniversary of Lasantha’s assassination

Wednesday, 7 January 2026 05:37 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Lasantha Wickrematunge

The 17th anniversary of the assassination of The Sunday Leader founder Editor-in- Chief Lasantha Wickrematunge, which falls on 8 January, will be marked with a service at his graveside. Family, friends, former colleagues and others will gather at Borella Kanatte on Thursday at 9 a.m. to mark the anniversary and remember Lasantha. Assassinated on 8 January 2009, Lasantha was one of Sri Lanka’s leading journalists and an outspoken critic of the then Rajapaksa Government. He was attacked as he drove to work and later died of his injuries.

The brazen attack was carried out by two gunmen on motorcycles in the middle of morning-rush-hour traffic. Despite assurances by successive Governments to ensure justice, the investigation into Lasantha’s murder has yielded no tangible results thus far and his killers still roam free, 17 years later.