Member of Parliament for the Tamil National Alliance P Ariyanethiran has condemned Sri Lanka's continued intimidation of journalists in the North-East, calling for an immediate halt to curbs on media freedom.
Uthayan reports that the Batticaloa district MP said it was not just Sri Lanka's infamous Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) that was intimidating journalists, but that other government authorities were also involved.
Ariyanethiran went on to cite the recent case of a journalist in Batticaloa who had been called in for questioning by the TID over a news article published on a website. Calling it a “condemnable matter”, the MP added it was “unacceptable” for the TID to call intimidate and investigate journalists over news.
“I request to stop such devious acts and help journalists function freely” said Ariyanethiran.
Also see our earlier posts:
Vavuniya journalist receives death threat (03 August 2014)
Tamil media oppression is state sponsored - Bishop of Mannar (03 Aug 2014)
Journalists protest against media repression in North (31 Jul 2014)
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
