British Tamils Forum condemned the attack on the Tamil newspaper office, the Uthayan, in a statement released on Wednesday.
See here, reproduced in full below:
British Tamils Forum (BTF) condemns the recent attack on the Tamil news paper 'Uthayan' in Jaffna
Despite the heavy presence of security forces, a group of armed men have fired and then torched the printing machinery of the “Uthayan” newspaper.
The sources in Jaffna said the attack was the work of Sri Lankan military intelligence under the direction of the defence secretary, Gothabaya Rajapaksa. They further said that the current regime is aiming to silence the remaining independent media and create a fearful environment among Tamil people before the forthcoming elections in the North.
Recent events have shown, that the leniency of the international community continues to embolden the regime to act with total disregard to international opinion. BTF calls upon Her Majesty's Government to reconsider UK's representation in CHOGM 2013 and support a venue change to a country which respects the fundamental commonwealth values.
Without a strong coordinated international action, Sri Lanka will continue to oppress and implement its structural genocide of the Tamil people. If CHOGM 2013 is allowed to take place in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan president who is accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide against Tamils would be the chair of the 54 Commonwealth Nations for the next two years. It would undermine the Commonwealth values and its founding principles.
BTF call upon Her Majesty's Government to condemn the attack against free media and other remaining democratic institutions in Sri Lanka.
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