Held without charge, Sri Lankan journalist sees detention extended 90 days
New York, January 24, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Sri Lankan government to bring charges against detained Tamil reporter Maunasámi Parameswaree or release her. Parameswaree, who wrote for the Sinhala-language weekly Mawbima, was arrested at her home south of Colombo on November 24. On Tuesday, the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) in Colombo…
Journalist threatened
April 17, 2007 Posted April 25, 2007 Champika Liyanarachchi, Editor, Daily Mirror THREATENED Liyanarachchi said Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa called her to complain about Daily Mirror reporter Easwaran Rutnam’s coverage of sectarian fighting in Pottuvil in Ampara district. The article said that Tamil rebels belonging to the breakaway Karuna faction of the Liberation Tigers of…
Sri Lanka: Freelance Tamil journalist arrested
New York, November 30, 2006—Sri Lankan authorities should either charge or release a freelance Tamil journalist detained for nearly a week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Parameswaree Maunasámi, who wrote for the Sinhala-language weekly Mawbima, was arrested at her home south of Colombo on November 24 along with another Tamil woman, according to…
LTTE radio tower bombed
October 16, 2006 Posted: October 20, 2006 Voice of Tigers radio station ATTACKED Sri Lankan Air Force planes destroyed the broadcasting towers of the Voice of Tigers radio station operated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Killinochchi, an LTTE- held town in northern Sri Lanka. The LTTE said two workers, whom it did…
Sri Lanka: Tamil newspaper pleads for protection from attacks
New York, September 8, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Sri Lankan authorities to fulfill their duty to protect the staff of the pro-Tamil Jaffna newspaper Uthayan, which was threatened and coerced on Thursday. The incident was the latest in a series of attacks and acts of intimidation against the newspaper. E. Saravanapavan, Uthayan’s…
Sri Lankan journalist freed after 20 hours in captivity
New York, August 30, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release today of Sri Lankan radio producer Nadaraja Guruparan, who was abducted by gunmen in the capital, Colombo, early Tuesday. Guruparan said he was held for about 20 hours by kidnappers who had forced him out of his car as he drove to work…
Sri Lanka: Veteran Tamil journalist feared abducted
New York, August 29, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by reports that veteran Sri Lankan journalist Nadarajah Guruparan is missing and feared abducted in Colombo today. The Free Media Movement, a local press group, reported that Guruparan, a producer, left for work at the privately owned Tamil-language radio station Sooriyan, or Sun…
Sri Lanka: Tamil newspaper editor killed in Jaffna
New York, August 21, 2006—A Tamil newspaper editor and former member of parliament was killed outside his home on the besieged Jaffna Peninsula late Sunday, international and local media reported. Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, managing director of the Tamil-language Namathu Eelanadu newspaper was shot dead in Vellippalai. Police are investigating the murder, according to news reports. The…
Sri Lanka: Tamil newspapers curtail distribution after threats
New York, July 31, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by threats to distributors of two Tamil-language dailies, Sudar Oli and Thinakkural, in Batticaloa and Amparai districts of eastern Sri Lanka. Both newspapers stopped distributing in the area last week after they received threatening phone calls, their managing editors told CPJ. On July…
Sri Lanka: Freelance Journalist Shot Dead
New York, July 5, 2006 — The body of freelance reporter Sampath Lakmal, a contributor to the Sinhala-language weekly Sathdina, was found in a southern suburb of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo on Sunday. He had been shot after leaving his house to meet a contact on Saturday night, according to local media reports and the…