Frederica Jansz was editor-in-chief at The Sunday Leader, an English-language weekly newspaper in Sri Lanka. Her predecessor at the paper, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was murdered by masked men on motorbikes in 2009. Jansz says she experienced threats and intimidation after publishing an article alleging the misuse of government funds. In 2012, she was fired from the paper and her lawyer encouraged her to leave the country. She received asylum in the United States.