Sri Lankan police have arrested five military intelligence officers on suspicion of assassinating a prominent anti-establishment newspaper editor and orchestrating attacks on other journalists and dissidents under the former regime, a legal source said Monday. The 2009 killing of Lasantha Wickrematunga, a fierce critic of then-president Mahinda Rajapakse, sparked an international outcry and shone a spotlight on violence against Sri Lanka's media.
Wickrematunga had accused Rajapakse's defence secretary and brother Gotabhaya of taking kickbacks in arms purchases, and was due to testify in court when he was killed.
A legal source involved with the investigation said the five men were taken into custody over the weekend, initially over the May 2008 abduction of journalist Keith Noyahr, who had criticised military leaders.