Amazon UK removes Wasantha Karannagoda’s Memoir from sale

The decision came after the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) wrote to Amazon’s Public Policy department warning that sales of 'The Turning Point: The Naval Role in Sri Lanka’s War on LTTE Terrorism' could breach UK sanctions law. Under British legislation, it is a criminal offence to make available resources – including royalties – to an individual subject to targeted sanctions, carrying penalties of up to seven years’ imprisonment.

While Amazon responded by removing the title, Penguin Random House India, the book’s publisher, has remained silent. The book has quietly disappeared from the publisher’s website but without explanation.

Earlier this year, the UK sanctioned Karannagoda under its Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations. The United States designated him under Section 7031c for gross violations of human rights in 2023. In Sri Lanka itself, Karannagoda has been implicated in the abduction and disappearance of 11 youths, the so-called “Trinco 11” case, linked to a torture site known as “Gun Site” inside the Trincomalee naval base.