Activists and media freedom groups have protested the promotion of a military intelligence officer accused in the abduction and disappearance of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda has been condemned by activists, especially media rights activists and groups.
Ekneligoda’s wife, Sandya Ekneligoda has meanwhile written to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) noting that she has learnt through media reports that Lt. Col. Erantha Radeesh Peiris had been promoted to the rank of Brigadier and had expressed strong regret and opposition to the move, stating that Peiris is a defendant in the ongoing criminal case involving her husband’s 2010 disappearance.
Lt. Col. Peiris is one of several military intelligence officers charged in connection with the case. According to the letter, the Attorney General had filed 17 indictments against him in 2019, including a murder charge. Investigations by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) have identified him as directly involved in the abduction, the letter said.
Sandya has warned that promoting an officer facing such serious allegations could compromise the judicial process. “By conferring such a senior rank on an officer accused of grave crimes, there is a serious risk of influencing witnesses, discouraging investigating officers, and undermining the judicial process,” she has stated in the letter.
She has further referred to a separate ongoing case in which a retired senior officer, also an accused in the Ekneligoda case, is alleged to have threatened a key witness.
Civil society groups and media rights activists have condemned the promotion, saying it damages public trust in accountability for enforced disappearances and undermines confidence in the rule of law.
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