A simple memorial vigil to mark the 25th death anniversary of Richard de Zoysa was held yesterday at the Dutch Hospital premises in Colombo.

The event was not organized by a particlular group but involved those who admired Richard de Zoysa's work had joined in this, Gihan Gunathilaka, a participant, told BBC Sandeshaya. He also said that unexplained deaths of those days have to be investigated.

Born in 1958, de Zoysa was known as a journalist, actor and a human rights activist. He played the role of a left wing activist Malin Kabalana in Lester James Peiris's film Yuganthaya. It was a notable role in the Sinhalese cinema of the 1980s. Based on the character of the novel 'Yuganthaya' by renowned writer Martin Wickremasingha, Kabalana significantly mirrored de Zoysa's background and beliefs.

De Zoysa was murdered on February 18, 1990, in the last days of the JVP insurrection, allegedly by a death squad connected to the government. His body was found in Moratuwa area. However, no one has been found to be responsible for the murder.

State Education Minister Professor Rajiva Wijesingha told BBC Sandeshaya that de Zoysa's murder was the turning point for the death squads. He claims the with the JVP insurrection largely over and the usefulness of the death squads coming to an end, President Ranasinghe Premadasa used de Zoysa's murder and the subsequent outcry against it as a reason to call a halt to the killings carried out by the death squads. According to Professor Wijesingha, de Soyza's mother Dr. Manorani Saravanamuttu had told him that she had met with the State Defence Minister at the time, Ranjan Wijeratne. Following this meeting, Wijeratne has allegedly warned the 'death squads' that the government protection for them will be discontinued.