Colombo: new death threats against Sandhya Ekneligoda (while trial remains stalled)

The wife of the journalist who disappeared in 2010 has reported receiving further threats from a man who identified himself as a ‘retired army general’. She wrote to President Dissanayake, also recalling the continuous postponements of the trial against nine officers accused in the case.

Colombo (AsiaNews) - "I have received threats from various people over the last 16 years, since I began fighting for justice for my husband. But this phone call frightens me greatly. I am surprised that it has come even under the regime of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake."

Sandhya Ekneligoda, human rights activist and wife of missing journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, commented to AsiaNews on the new death threat she received in recent days. Sandhya has asked President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to guarantee her safety, following a threatening phone call she received on 16 January from a person who identified himself as ‘a retired army brigadier general’.

From a mobile phone number she made public, the caller threatened her, warning her to keep quiet or she would suffer the same fate as her husband. ‘I was told that the phone number is not registered. But I am sure the police can trace some information,’ she said.

Ekneligoda says she fears for her life if the suspects arrested in connection with her husband's disappearance are released on bail by the court. She also said she was further shocked to discover that one of the defendants on trial for Prageeth's abduction had been promoted by the army. ‘I could even be murdered in a fake car accident or something similar,’ she told AsiaNews. ‘But I wanted to inform the public and the media before that happens and ask them to stand by me.’

In addition to writing to the president, Sandhya filed a complaint with the Sri Lankan Police's Division for the Assistance and Protection of Crime Victims and Witnesses. She also wrote to other international organisations, such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). So far, she has not received any response from the president.

Sandhya Ekneligoda is fighting for justice for her husband, who was abducted on 24 January 2010, two days before the 2010 presidential elections, which Mahinda Rajapaksa won. A well-known critic of the government, he was last seen in the suburbs of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. As a cartoonist and columnist for the news website Lanka e News, Ekneligoda used his platform to denounce corruption and abuses of power. His disappearance occurred during a period marked by widespread violence against journalists.

Nine years after Ekneligoda's disappearance, in 2019, a Special Court (Trial-at-Bar) issued indictments against nine army officers for the ‘kidnapping and conspiracy to murder’ journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda between 25 and 27 January 2010.

The defendants include Lieutenant Colonel Shammi Arjun Kumararatne, R.M.P.K. Rajapaksa alias Nadan, W.W. Priyantha Dilanjan Upasena alias Suresh, S.M. Ravindra Rupasena alias Ranji, Y.M. Chaminda Kumara Abeyratne, S.M. Kanishka Gunaratne, Aiyyasami Balasubramaniyam, D.G.T. Prasad Gamage and T.E.R. Peiris, who is accused in the abduction case.

However, the trial before the Special Court in Colombo was adjourned due to the absence of two of the three judges. The case, which was heard on 2 February, has been postponed until 4 May. Sandhya urged President Dissanayake to take steps to appoint judges to the trial and bring it to a conclusion within this year.

Sandhya Ekneligoda received the International Women of Courage Award in 2017. She has been fighting for thousands of missing persons in Sri Lanka for years.