Dharisha Bastians also spelt as either Darisha Bastians or Darisha Bastian is a Sri Lankan journalist and human rights activist. She was the Editor of the ''

Sunday Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' and a contributor to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Career

Dharisha has written several articles extensively based on human rights, militarization, democracy and political rights in Sri Lanka. Her article ''Navy Abduction Case'' received wide international attention which covered about alleged abduction of 11 Tamil young men in extortion in 2008. She also reported regarding the assassination of prominent ''

The Sunday Leader ''The Sunday Leader'' was 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 d ...

'' journalist

Lasantha Wickrematunge Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge (, ; 5 April 1958 - 8 January 2009) was a high-profile Sri Lankan journalist, politician, Television presenter, broadcaster, and human rights in Sri Lanka, human rights activist who was assassinated in January 2009 ...

in 2009. In July 2018, she and her family received threats from Pro-Rajapaksa supporters regarding legal action against them for contributing to an article to ''The New York Times'' which exposed about the Chinese investment in

Hambantota Hambantota (, ) is the main city in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Southern Province, Sri Lanka. This area was hit hard by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and underwent a number of maj ...

harbour including of Chinese funds which flowed during

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

's presidential campaign prior to the 2015 Sri Lanka presidential election. She also reportedly left Sri Lanka following the 2019 Sri Lanka presidential election. In June 2020, her residence was raided and her laptop was seized by the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes criminal investigation, detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is disti ...

in connection with the alleged abduction of a female staff worker of the Swiss Embassy in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

who was reportedly kidnapped by unidentified men. Bastians was accused of having close connection with the Swiss staff employee. The international human rights organisations condemned the actions of the

Government of Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (; ) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by the Constitution of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital o ...

and urged to end the continuous prosecution and harassment of Bastians.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastians, Dharisha 20th-century Sri Lankan women writers 21st-century Sri Lankan women writers Living people Sri Lankan magazine editors Sri Lankan women magazine editors Sri Lankan newspaper editors Sri Lankan women newspaper editors Sri Lankan newspaper journalists Sri Lankan women journalists Year of birth missing (living people)