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''The Sunday Leader'' is an English-language Sri Lankan weekly newspaper published by Leader Publications (Private) Limited. It was founded in 1994 and is published from Colombo. Its sister newspapers are the ''Iruresa'' (''Irudina'') and the defunct ''The Morning Leader''. Founded by brothers Lasantha Wickrematunge and Lal Wickrematunge, the newspaper is known for its outspoken and controversial news coverage.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://en.rsf.org/sri-lanka-outrage-at-fatal-shooting-of-08-01-2009,29916.html )〕 The newspaper and its staff have been attacked and threatened several times and its founding editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/3366/en/sri-lankan-defence-secretary:- )〕 ==History== ''The Sunday Leader'' was founded in 1994 by brothers Lasantha Wickrematunge and Lal Wickrematunge with the first edition being published on 19 June 1994. The newspaper was associated with silent partner and leading politician and presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake who was assassinated on 24 October 1994.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.pressreference.com/Sa-Sw/Sri-Lanka.html )〕 ''The Sunday Leader'' was shut down by the Sri Lankan government on 22 May 2000 using the recently passed censorship law – the ''Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions and Powers) Regulation No.1 of 2000''. The government's chief censor Ariya Rubasinghe had ordered that the newspaper cease publication for six months (22 May 2000 to 21 November 2000) following an article in the paper which mocked the country's censorship of the military situation imposed after the embarrassing defeat in the Second Battle of Elephant Pass. The police locked Leader Publications' printing facility and installed armed guards outside the building.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://cpj.org/2000/05/sri-lanka-no-letup-in-censorship-of-war-coverage.php )〕 Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge subsequently filed a fundamental rights application with the Supreme Court challenging the closure. On 30 June 2000 the Supreme Court ruled that the ban on ''The Sunday Leader'' was illegal and ordered the police to re-open the newspaper immediately. On 5 September 2000 Lasantha Wickrematunge was found guilty of criminally defaming Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1995 article in ''The Sunday Leader''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://cpj.org/2000/09/calls-for-repeal-of-criminal-defamation-laws.php )〕 Wickrematunge was sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for five years.〔〔 Government minister Mahinda Wijesekara threatened to kill Lasantha Wickrematunge in Parliament on 27 July 2003, saying: "Very soon I'll put him in a room and have him shot or he will be stabbed to death!"〔 The threat followed the expose of corruption in Wijesekara's ministry.〔 Lasantha Wickrematunge was threatened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa using abusive language in a telephone call on 11 January 2006.〔 According Wickrematunge the president had threatened to destroy him saying "Fuck your mother, you son of a bloody whore!...I treated you well all this while. Now I will destroy you".〔 Wickrematunge was detained briefly at Bandaranaike International Airport on 21 February 2006 as he arrived for a flight to Geneva.〔 Airport officials had claimed that Wickrematunge required "special permission" to leave Sri Lanka. In late December 2006 an unsuccessful attempt was made to arrest Lasantha Wickrematunge for "endangering national security" after ''The Sunday Leader'' published a report exposing a Rs. 500 million luxury bunker to be built in the presidential complex.〔 Journalist Arthur Wamanan Sornalingam and his mother were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department on 24 October 2007 following a complaint from government minister Mano Wijeyeratne. The arrest followed an article in ''The Sunday Leader'' which alleged that a government department had paid Wijeyeratne's wife's mobile phone bill.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://cpj.org/2007/10/sri-lankan-investigative-reporter-detained-and-his.php )〕 Investigative editor Dilrukshi Handunetti was forced to hand over documents relating to the article to the police.〔 Sornalingam subsequently filed a fundamental rights application with the Supreme Court in relation to the arrest. On 5 December 2008 a judge ordered Leader Publications not to publish any reports about Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, for two weeks.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://en.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=29654 )〕 Gotabhaya had gone to the courts to sue Leader Publications for Rs. 2 billion (€14 million) in damages for publishing "slanderous" reports about him.〔 Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was shot dead on 8 January 2009. Frederica Jansz became editor of the newspaper following Wickrematunge's murder. On 22 October 2009 Jansz News Editor Munza Mushtaq were sent handwritten death threats through the post. "We will slice you up if you do not stop your writing," the letters threatened. Jansz told Reporters Without Borders Wickrematunge had been sent an identical letter which was compared by a Graphologist who said all three letters were written by the same fist. ''The Sunday Leader'' carried an article on 13 December 2009 entitled "Gota Ordered Them To Be Shot", alleging that Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa ordered the then commander of the 58 Division, Major General Shavendra Silva, to shoot down the surrendering LTTE leaders during the final days of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Sarath Fonseka, the former commander of the Sri Lanka Army, and candidate of the 2010 presidential election who was quoted in the article, initially denied the story, but ''The Sunday Leader'' subsequently refuted the denial. The story resulted in Fonseka being charged with "“propagating a false rumour", a violation of emergency regulations. In November 2011 Fonseka was found guilty and sentenced to three years in jail and fined Rs. 5,000. President Mahinda Rajapaksa threatened Leader Publications chairman Lal Wickrematunge in a phone call on 19 July 2011 after the publication of an article that claimed the president and his son Namal Rajapaksa had received payments from China for use "at their discretion".〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://en.rsf.org/sri-lanka-president-personally-phones-02-08-2011,40732.html )〕 According to Wickrematunge the president had said: "...if you attack me personally, I will know how to attack you personally too."〔 Editor Frederica Jansz was threatened and insulted by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a phone call on 6 July 2012.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://en.rsf.org/sri-lanka-interview-with-editor-who-was-12-07-2012,43016.html )〕 According to Jansz the Defence Secretary said: "Yes, I threatened you. Your type of journalists are pigs who eat shit!...I will put you in jail!... People will kill you!!! People hate you!!!" In September 2012 Asanga Seneviratne, an ally of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, bought a 72% stake in ''The Sunday Leader'' and its sister newspaper the ''Iruresa''. Seneviratne is managing director of Asia Fort Asset Management (Pvt) Ltd and vice president of Sri Lanka Cricket.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.rugby.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27&Itemid=186 )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.srilankacricket.lk/ex-co-members )〕 He is also president of Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union and controversially appointed President Rajapaksa's son Yoshitha Rajapaksa as captain of the Sri Lanka national rugby union team.〔 ''The Sunday Leader'' had published a number of reports exposing Seneviratne's property developments and investment deals.〔 According to editor Frederica Jansz, Seneviratne asked her stop publishing articles critical of the Sri Lankan government and the Rajapaksa family.〔〔 She refused and on 21 September 2012 she was sacked as editor.〔〔 Jansz was replaced by Sakuntala Perera as editor of ''The Sunday Leader''. Seneviratne denies Jansz claims.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Sunday Leader」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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