Sri Lanka army spies charged with journalist attack

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Wednesday charged two army spies for a decade-old serious assault of a newspaper editor in the wake of the shock assassination of high-profile anti-establishment journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge. Rivira editor Upali Tennakoon and his wife were lucky to survive the attack in January 2009 outside the capital Colombo as they drove to work. It was the latest in a string of violent attacks against journalists in Sri Lanka, and came two weeks after Wickrematunge was ambushed and stabbed to death as he drove to his office.

Prosecutors told a magistrate that the two suspects, military intelligence officers Prema Ananda Udulagama and Rajapaksage Lalith Rajapakse, used sharp and blunt instruments to assault the Thennakoons. “The officers were attached to the Tripoli Military Intelligence platoon of the Sri Lanka army,” Attorney-General´s department spokeswoman Nishara Jayaratne said.