The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has called for a presidential commission to investigate killings and crimes committed against journalists from all ethnic communities in Sri Lanka.

Speaking at a memorial event for Tamil journalist Bharathi Rajanayagam, SLMC leader MP Rauff Hakeem said the role played by journalists in the struggle for the rights of Tamil-speaking communities should not be forgotten, especially in light of the many media workers who were killed.

Hakeem said that while numerous commissions of inquiry had been appointed in the past concerning media institutions and political actors, there had been no dedicated mechanism to investigate crimes committed against journalists.

“The contribution of journalists to the journey toward the liberation of the Tamil-speaking community cannot be overlooked,” he said. “At the same time, when we think of the many journalists who were unjustly killed, there is only one thing we can say on their behalf at this moment. Many commissions have been appointed for media institutions and politicians. But we need a commission specifically to investigate crimes committed against journalists. Separate attention must be given to victims from all ethnic communities.”

Hakeem described the killing of journalists as one of the most serious crimes linked to Sri Lanka’s long-running ethnic conflict.

Bharathi, who died in February 2025 at the age of 63 after a period of ill health, spent four decades in journalism. He began his career with the Jaffna-based newspaper Eelamurasu before later working with several Tamil-language publications including Murasoli and Eelanadu.

Over the course of his career he also served as editor of the Tamil newspapers Thinakkural and Virakesari. At the time of his death, he was heading the Jaffna office of the Virakesari newspaper.

Bharathi was widely known as a journalist who advocated for media freedom during the years of Sri Lanka’s civil war, campaigning against the disappearance, killing and intimidation of journalists and civilians in both the Northern and Eastern provinces as well as in the capital, Colombo.

44 journalists

According to a report compiled by the media rights organisation Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, at least 44 journalists in the country were subjected to killings, abductions or other forms of persecution during the period when Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as defence secretary.

Many of those targeted were Tamil journalists working in the north of the country, and none of the cases have so far resulted in justice for the victims, the report notes.

Hakeem said the appointment of a presidential commission to investigate the killing of journalists over the past half century could help expose the conspiracies behind those crimes and contribute to a fuller historical record.

“Today we see even senior intelligence officials being arrested, and investigations are underway into the conspiracies behind incidents such as the Easter Sunday attacks. In the same way, a commission must be appointed to investigate the journalists who were killed over the last four or five decades. That would allow an important chapter of history to be written and the conspiracies behind these killings to be revealed,” he said.

Several high-profile cases involving attacks on journalists remain under investigation.

In October 2024, responding to a question from a journalist, the then cabinet spokesman Vijitha Herath said that a number of so-called “emblematic cases” were being examined, including the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge and the disappearance of journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda. However, local authorities, including the government, the police and other state investigative bodies, have yet to publicly disclose progress in those investigations.

A group of lawyers say they will challenge in court the legality of a 90-day detention of Sri Lanka’s former top intelligence official under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), following his arrest in an investigation linked to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.

Major General Suresh Sallay (Rtd), who served as director of state intelligence under former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was arrested last week in Peliyagoda by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

A lawyer representing the group, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described the arrest as unlawful and said an appeal would be filed before a higher court.

Police say the arrest follows more than a year of investigations stemming from a complaint lodged with the secretary to the ministry of public security shortly after the National People’s Power (NPP) government assumed office.

The complaint was based on allegations aired in a September 2023 investigative program by Britain’s Channel 4 television network about the Easter bombings.

A senior Catholic priest, who holds a leadership role in a church-affiliated communications department, confirmed that a magistrate’s inquiry is underway into a complaint submitted in October 2024 to public security secretary Ravi Seneviratne.

Police have confirmed that on November 11, 2024, the CID reported facts to the Fort magistrate’s court based on a complaint filed by a Catholic organisation seeking an investigation into the Channel 4 allegations.

At the time, then-police spokesman, Deputy Inspector General Nihal Thalduwa, said former Eastern province chief minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, also known as Pillayan, had been summoned for questioning. Chandrakanthan was later arrested and detained for an extended period.

In the Channel 4 broadcast, Azad Maulana, media secretary to Chandrakanthan, alleged that in January 2018 he facilitated a meeting between Sallay and members of the extremist group National Thowheed Jamaat, some of whom later carried out the coordinated suicide attacks on churches and hotels.

Maulana also claimed that a secret meeting took place in Karadipuwal in the northwestern district of Puttalam involving Zaharan Hashim, identified as the alleged mastermind of the bombings, his associate Sainy Mowlavi and others.

He alleged the purpose was to create instability in the country to enable the Rajapaksas’ return to power.

Two days after the Easter attacks, Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his candidacy for president and later won the election.

Sallay is also the chief prosecution witness in an ongoing special three-judge High Court trial involving 25 defendants accused in connection with the Easter attacks. The trial is being heard five days a week.

Police spokesman, ASP F. Wootler, told the media last week that Sallay’s arrest was based on clear evidence uncovered during investigations into the attacks.

However, authorities have not publicly detailed the specific grounds for the detention.

Senior deputy inspector general Sajeewa Medawatte said lengthy investigations were needed and indicated that detention orders would be used as part of that process.

Following submissions by the CID, the Fort Magistrate’s Court imposed a foreign travel ban on six individuals, including Sallay.

The group includes two civilians and four serving military officers.

One of them, former army intelligence officer Col. Kelum Maddumage, has petitioned the court of appeal seeking to prevent his arrest. He is represented by president’s counsel Ali Sabry, a former justice minister and close political ally of Rajapaksa, who has strongly objected to Sallay’s arrest.

At the time of his arrest, Sallay was reportedly traveling to attend an event organised by the Pathfinder Foundation, a Colombo-based think tank chaired by former minister Milinda Moragoda.

Sallay is the most senior armed forces officer to be detained under the PTA, a law long criticised by local and international human rights groups who say it allows prolonged detention without adequate judicial oversight.

His lawyers allege that authorities acted arbitrarily and denied him access to legal counsel and close family members, including his wife and father, for two days after his arrest.

They say access was granted only after the detention order was formally obtained.

Rights advocates have repeatedly raised concerns about the use of the PTA, particularly provisions that allow suspects to be held without immediate access to lawyers or relatives, noting that such restrictions undermine fundamental rights and due process.