Tamil-language daily threatened

JANUARY 6, 2008
Posted January 14, 2008

Uthayan, Tamil-language daily
THREATENED

According to a letter to CPJ from Uthayan’s Managing Director E. Saravanapavan, the paper’s news desk received an anonymous phone call around 10:45 a.m. in which the caller told the paper to cease production or face unspecified consequences. Saravanapavan said the caller spoke in Tamil. It was the first overt threat to the paper in 2008, though there have been numerous threats previously. Uthayan is the only daily Tamil-language newspaper to be printed in the northern city of Jaffna, in the heart of the area caught in the battle between secessionist Tamil rebels and government forces. In April 2007, Uthayan reporter Selvarajah Rajeewarnam was shot by unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen.