Newspaper editor gets suspended jail term

A Sri Lankan court has given a newspaper editor a suspended two-year jail term for criminally defaming the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Lasantha Wickrematunga received the sentence for an article in his Sunday Leader newspaper in 1995 which critcised the president for failing to deliver on election promises.

State prosecutors argued that the article had implied the president was corrupt but Mr Wickrematunga denied this.

He is the second newspaper editor in recent years to be convicted on the charge of criminal defamation.

The Sri Lankan press has long been subject to censorship laws, which were tightened even further in May when Tiger rebels inflicted heavy losses on the army.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service