Sri Lankan Opposition Lawmaker Assassinated

A Sri Lankan opposition lawmaker was gunned down during a New Year’s religious celebration last night, 2 days after accusing government troops of abductions and murders in the northern part of the country and promising to name names when parliament reconvened, Reuters reports. He was rushed to the hospital along with his suspected killer, who was injured when bodyguards returned fire.

Thyagaraja Maheswaran was an advocate for his ethnic Tamil people, scores of whom have died under shadowy circumstances in northern Sri Lanka, the AP reports. The suspected killer was also Tamil. Two weeks ago, the government drastically reduced Maheswaran’s security detail, which he considered an attempt to pressure him into silence. He said to blame the government if anything happened to him. (More Sri Lanka stories.)