New York, January 9, 2025—Sri Lankan authorities must conduct a swift and impartial investigation into the December 26 assault and attempted kidnapping of Murukaiya Thamilselvan, a freelance journalist of Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
“Sri Lankan authorities must take immediate steps to ensure the safety of journalist Murukaiya Thamilselvan and his family,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “The recently elected Sri Lankan government must put an end to the longstanding impunity surrounding the harassment and assaults on Tamil journalists.”
Thamilselvan told CPJ that he was traveling home in northern Kilinochchi town when a black pickup truck, which had been following him for around 500 meters, intercepted his motorcycle.
Two men emerged from the car and asked, “Do you know who we are?” before hitting Thamilselvan, pushing him into their vehicle, and threatening to kill him, the journalist said. His leg caught in the vehicle door, preventing the attackers from closing it, and they fled as passersby stopped to watch.
He received treatment at a local hospital for chest, neck, and back pain.
Thamilselvan identified the assailants in a statement to police, following which authorities arrested two suspects on December 27. Although Thamilselvan identified the suspects in court on December 30, they were released on bail later that day, the journalist told CPJ.
Thamilselvan said that he believed the attack was in retaliation for his reporting, reviewed by CPJ, on alleged drug trafficking and sand smuggling for Tamil-language daily newspapers Uthayan and Thinakaran. The journalist said he feared for his safety and that of his family following the incident.
CPJ has documented persistent impunity for attacks on the Tamil press. Most of the journalists killed during Sri Lanka’s 1983 to 2009 civil war were Tamil. The conflict ended with the government’s defeat of the separatist Tamil Tigers.
Sarath Samaravikrama, officer-in-charge of the Kilinochchi police, told CPJ via messaging app that he was unable to immediately comment.