Will there finally be justice for Sri Lankan journalist Keith Noyahr?

This story is published in collaboration with the Free Media Movement of Sri Lanka, part of a series for Black January, which commemorates crimes against Sri Lanka's journalists. It has been translated and edited from Sinhala, with updates on Keith Noyahr’s case. 

The Sri Lankan journalist Keith Noyahr vanished from the country’s media landscape while still very much alive. On 22 May 2008, Noyahr was abducted and brutally tortured by individuals who could not tolerate his fearless and incisive reporting. That night marked the end of his career in journalism.

Seventeen years later, in May 2025, the Attorney General’s Department of Sri Lanka announced its intention to file indictments in the case – an overdue but significant development. Yet despite progress in the investigation, the path to justice remains uncertain, with the case repeatedly stalled and key suspects released over the years.

Noyahr’s abduction and brutal assault is a well-documented incident of violence against the media in Sri Lanka. At the time of his abduction, Noyahr was the associate editor of The Nation, a newspaper owned by the now-defunct Rivira Media Corporation. He was also a defence columnist, writing a weekly column called “Military Matters” under the pseudonym “Senpathi”, which dealt with the security situation in Sri Lanka as the country grappled with civil war. 

One of the last articles Noyahr published before his abduction was sharply critical of the war and army officials at the time. The article, titled “The Army is not the personal fief of its Commander”, was widely believed to be the cause of his abduction. The swift and resolute actions of his colleagues, coupled with their ability to engage directly with key figures, including the president and the secretary of defence at the time, were instrumental in saving Noyahr’s life. However, since that fateful night, Noyahr has maintained an enduring silence, offering no public account of his harrowing experience. The assault not only ended his career as associate editor of The Nation and his incisive war analyses, but was a grave attack on his fundamental right to free speech and expression.

The incident was emblematic of a broader pattern of state complicity in crimes against journalists, perpetuating a culture of impunity. His assailants threatened to kill anyone who disclosed details of the incident, ensuring an oppressive silence. In the aftermath, misinformation and speculation obscured the truth, with fragments from police reports, case files, and statements contributing to a distorted narrative.

NOYAHR WAS ABDUCTED after a dinner at a restaurant on Duplication Road in Colombo with Lalith Alahakoon, the editor of The Nation at the time, and Krishantha Cooray, the CEO of Rivira Media Corporation, which was facing challenges regarding a sudden change in ownership. Noyahr was kidnapped when he reached his house on Waidya Road in Dehiwala, a Colombo suburb.

According to the B report – a police document with investigation details – filed in the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court, the facts are as follows. When Noyahr got out of his car and opened the gate to his house, people alighted from a white van and attacked him with pistols and sticks. They put him in the van where he was blindfolded and handcuffed. He would later testify that his abductors also took LKR 2000 from his wallet and his wedding ring.

Noyahr was then beaten inside the van with a pistol. He was driven around for about an hour and then asked to get down from the vehicle, led with a pole inserted through his handcuffs. He was taken to a house with a large room, where he was stripped and beaten again. During the beating, Noyahrs’s abductors repeatedly questioned him about his connection with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam – the separatist group that the Sri Lankan army had been fighting for three decades – and asked him to reveal the sources he used for his articles. They also asked about his wife and children, and details about his bank accounts. 

When Noyahr’s wife Roshini pulled up to the house later that evening, she was alarmed to find his empty car, with the driver’s seat door left ajar and the engine still running. She promptly informed the deputy editor of The Nation that Noyahr appeared to have been abducted. The deputy editor then informed Alahakoon and Cooray, who were the last people to have seen him before his abduction. 

An alarmed Cooray contacted Karu Jayasuriya, who held the position of public administration minister of the government at that time, informed him of Noyahr’s abduction and asked for a  guarantee of his safety. Jayasuriya informed then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa about the abduction, who in turn called his brother and defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 

Meanwhile, Cooray went to the Dehiwala police and tried to record a statement and file an official complaint with them about the abduction, but the police did not want to accept the statement. 

Noyahr’s relatives and colleagues continued to frantically call Noyahr’s mobile phone, which was switched off. They also bombarded the phone with text messages. Eventually, a call placed by Rivira’s distribution manager went through and text messages were also delivered to his phone. Senior leadership at Rivira media identified the location, with Cooray directly contacting officials at telecommunications company Dialog to pinpoint Noyahr’s location without the assistance of police. Subsequent investigations traced the signal to a tower in the Dekatana neighbourhood in Dompe, located in Gampaha district.

The senior superintendent of police, Anura Senanayake, eventually arrived and asked Alahakoon for details about what had happened. On being informed about Noyahr’s disappearance, Senanayake said, “That man will be released in about two hours. I will send a team and investigate.” A police team along with one of Noyahr’s close friends set off for Dompe. 

Both Alahakoon and Cooray made calls to Mahinda Rajapaksa, but could not get in touch with him. It was reported that Alahakoon then called Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his intervention, and said, “I am Lalith Alahakoon speaking. Keith Noyahr of The Nation has been kidnapped. It has been said that the abduction was done by the army commandos.” At the time, Gotabaya allegedly said, “Don't point a finger at my army commandos,” adding that he believed the abduction was probably linked to a domestic dispute. However, the frantic flurry of calls eventually led to Noyahr’s release. As court records show, one of Noyahr’s abductors eventually received a call, which he responded to by saying “OK sir, OK sir”, and then Noyahr was told to wash up and get dressed. 

He was taken in a van, blindfolded, and released in Dehiwala, with the threat that he would certainly be killed if he told anyone what had happened. Although Noyahr was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital, his life was not protected by law enforcement, then or since.