Frederica Jansz

Frederica Jansz is a Sri Lankan journalist and former editor of The Sunday Leader.

During her time at The Sunday Leader, she was highly critical of Sri Lanka's government. Jansz became editor of the paper after her predecessor Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated, and fell subject to frequent intimidation and harassment, including numerous death threats.

After being dismissed from her position at the newspaper in September 2012 by its new, government-friendly owner, Jansz emigrated to the US, where she now lives.

Personal life Jansz is a Burgher of Dutch origin. She has two children.

Media and journalism Jansz "began her career as a war reporter for Visnews, the television arm of Reuters, during the Sri Lankan Civil War." She conducted interviews with government soldiers and guerilla forces, and also served as an investigative journalist covering the Sri Lankan parliament. "As one of the only female journalists in Sri Lanka, she established herself as a respected political reporter and became the anchor of a morning news show."

The Sunday Leader She joined The Sunday Leader, which has been described as a “politically fueled investigative newspaper” She was subsequently asked by Lal Wickrematunge to become its editor in January 2009 following the assassination of editor-in-chief Lasantha Wickrematunge, under whom she had trained. Wickrematunge "was ambushed by men on motorbikes who shot him through the head." Like Wickrematunge, Jansz received threats due to her work, including death threats. She has stated that she began receiving these threats shortly after becoming editor. "I received one letter in red ink, saying 'I will chop you up if you don't stop writing this,'" she told the Telegraph. The handwriting was the same as in a threatening letter that had been sent to Lasantha three weeks before his murder. "We will slice you up if you do not stop your writing," the letters threatened. Jansz told Reporters Without Borders that Wickrematunge had received the same letter, which his secretary had filed away. Jansz said the letters were compared by a graphologist who confirmed, "all three letters were authored by the same palm.' In October 2010 the Sri Lanka Guardian magazine reported that Sri Lankan military intelligence was plotting to assassinate Jansz. Jansz was threatened and insulted by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a phone call on 6 July 2012. According to Jansz the Defence Secretary said, "Yes I threatened you. Your type of journalists are pigs who eat shit!...I will put you in jail!... People will kill you!!! People hate you!!!".

At the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, in 2009, Jansz had written an article suggesting that Sri Lanka's defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, "shared a similar psychological profile to that of the leader of the Tigers (a sworn enemy)." In the winter of 2010, “Jansz interviewed the opposition candidate” in the presidential elections, “a former army commander in the Sri Lankan army,” who confirmed rumours “that the army had shot a group of Tamil Tiger rebel leaders as they attempted to surrender at the end of the war.” When Jansz ran the story, it led to the opposition’s election loss, thus making the newspaper “an enemy out of both the government and the opposition.” He went on to scream at her, "You are a f.... pig who eats shit," repeatedly. She printed the full transcript of his tirade under the headline “Gota Goes Berserk.”

Dismissal In September 2012, Asanga Seneviratne, an ally of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, bought a 72% stake in The Sunday Leader and its sister newspaper, Iruresa. He bought the paper with financial help from the government. She was replaced by Sakuntala Perera. "The new management appointed a new editor even as I was sitting in the office," Jansz said in July 2013. Seneviratne disputed Jansz’s account of her dismissal. Her application was turned down in October 2012 "on the grounds that she was not out of Sri Lanka at the time of making the claim." The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, however, “befriended Jansz and gave her and her sons entry into the United States.”

Honors and awards Jansz won the Editor's Guild of Sri Lanka Journalist of the Year Award in 2004, and the Editors Guild Prof. K. Kailasapathy award for Reporting Under Special Circumstances, in 2009.