AUGUST 1, 2007 Posted August 29, 2007 Sahadevan Nilakshan, Chaalaram, August 1, 2007, Jaffna KILLED Nilakshan, a 22-year-old journalism student and editor of the student-run Chaalaram magazine, was assassinated by unidentified gunmen at his home on the outskirts of Jaffna, at around 4 a.m. The shooting occurred during curfew hours in an area heavily guarded…
New York, July 5, 2007—Amid an accelerating government attack on media in Sri Lanka, the Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about a proposal to reintroduce a criminal defamation law that, if implemented, could include two-year prison penalties. Justice Minister Dilan Perera introduced the resolution at a June 27 Cabinet meeting. According to media reports,…
New York, June 20, 2007—The Sri Lankan government should restore domestic access to the TamilNet Web site, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Free Media Movement, a Colombo-based press freedom group, and news outlets reported Tuesday that Internet service providers had blocked access to the site on government orders. TamilNet, which openly supports…
New York, April 30, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the slaying on Sunday of Selvarajah Rajeewarnam, a reporter for the Tamil-language daily Uthayan, and calls on the government to investigate and quickly bring his assailants to justice. Rajeewarnam was aboard a bicycle on assignment in Jaffna when he was shot by unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen…
New York, April 20, 2007—Subash Chandraboas, editor of the Tamil-language monthly magazine Nilam, was shot and killed in his home near Vavuniya on Monday. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether the killing was related to his work. The Free Media Movement (FMM), a media-rights organization that first reported the death, said it was…
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…
New York, March 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s release of Tamil journalist Parameswaree Maunasámi, who petitioned the Supreme Court that she was being illegally detained after being held for four months without charge. Maunasámi, a reporter for the Sinhala-language weekly Mawbima, was arrested November 24 at her home in the capital Colombo,…
Dear Minister Yapa: The Committee to Protect Journalists is distressed by the shortage of newsprint in the northern peninsula of Jaffna, which seriously threatens the ability of major Tamil-language newspapers to continue publishing. The Sri Lankan government has a duty to safeguard the right of Jaffna residents to receive and impart news and information, and should ensure that vital paper supplies are delivered without interference.
New York, March 1, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the arrest on Saturday of the publisher of the Sunday Standard and Sinhala-language Mawbima newspaper in Sri Lanka. The editors of Mawbima said that Dushyantha Basnayake’s arrest was part of a “campaign of harassment” against the newspaper which began after it published articles…