08 May 2007
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Thousands attended the funeral of Rajivarman, allegedly killed by the EPDP. Photo TamilNet |
On the anniversary of the killing of prominent journalists, yet another Tamil journalist was gunned down in the middle of Jaffna town.
Selvarajah Rajivarman, 25, was shot and killed on 29 April by a lone gunman riding a motorbike at Naavalar Road, Rasavin Thoadam junction, Jaffna.
RSF (Reporters Sans Frontiers – Reporters Without Borders), the French based organization of journalists, condemned the killing.
"The people who murder journalists in Sri Lanka feel so well protected that they carry out fresh murders to mark the anniversaries of their preceding ones," Reporters Without Borders said.
"On the second anniversary of the murder of Tamilnet.com editor Sivaram Dharmeratnam and the first anniversary of the murder of two Uthayan employees, the killers struck again, murdering another journalist with impunity in an area controlled by the army. We call on the authorities to identify and punish those responsible."
“Jaffna-based journalists told Reporters Without Borders they suspected that the pro-government Tamil militia, the EPDP, could have been behind Rajivarnam's murder,” the RSF press communiqué said.
“The EPDP criticises Uthayan for supporting Tamil nationalism. EPDP members were suspected in the murder of journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan in 2000 and last year's murder of the three Uthayan employees,” the release noted.
Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA ) also appealed to the Sri Lankan government to take immediate action to find those involved in the killing.
“In Jaffna various forms of pressure and threats are being issued continuously on journalists and media organizations,” the SLTMA noted.
“Even though this Alliance has brought to the attention of Media minister Mr. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa regarding the killings of journalists and the various forms of intimidation they are subjected to, we are very concerned to note that no action has been taken to stop these,” the association said.
“The killing of Selvarajah Rajivarman is a clear indication that [the government] did not take any action to protect the media men especially the Tamil media personnel.”
“The killing of yet another journalist has a created fear among Tamil media journalists,” the SLTMA noted.
“We therefore publicly issue an appeal to [the Sri Lankan government] to take steps to arrest the culprits involved in this killing and produce them before law,” the association appealed.
Rajivarman was working as a staff reporter and was on training since he had joined the Jaffna daily 6 months previously.
He used to go to the police stations and hospital seeking information about the many crimes that have been taking place in recent months in Jaffna. He had also been taking an evening journalism course at Jaffna university.
Before joining Uthayan, he had worked for three years for the newspaper Namathu Eelanadu (Our Eelam Nation), whose managing editor, Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, was murdered in August 2006, and for the daily Yarl Thinakural, one of whose journalists, Subramaniam Ramachandran, has been missing since February. Three of Uthayan's employees were killed last year.
Rajivarman was from Aavarangkaal East, Puththoor in Valikaamam, Jaffna.
Thousands attended the funeral of the young Tamil journalist, killed as he was collecting news in Jaffna town.
Rajivarman’s funeral, held the day after his killing, saw most of the residents of his home town turn out to pay their respects.
Media persons, religious dignitaries, and civil society leaders spoke at the event.
Rajivarman's remains were kept at his house, where thousands waited for their turn to see his body covered by flowers, and to pay their last respects.
The presence of a large number of SLA troopers posted on the Jaffna-Point Pedro road, just 400 meters from Rajivarman's house, did not deter the participants at the funeral. Attendees ranged from children to elderly residents.
His body was then taken in a procession to the family’s cremations ground where his body was cremated in the presence of thousands.
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