Remembering Nadesan 10 years on

Today is the tenth anniversary of the assassination of veteran Tamil journalist Aiyathurai Nadesan by a Sri Lankan government-backed death squad.

Nadesan was shot dead in Batticaloa on 31 May 2004 as he was on his way to work.

He reported under the nom-de-plume G. Nadesan for the leading Tamil-language newspaper, Virakesari, and the London-based Tamil radio station, IBC.

Nadesan was one of several journalists, including Mylvaganam Nimalrajan, Dharmeratnam (Taraki) Sivaram and Lasantha Wickrematunga killed as part of silencing criticism of Sri Lanka’s ruthless military campaign.

See coverage of Nadesan’s death and funeral and a report into his death by the Committee to Protect Journalists’ here.

See below what Sivaram, himself abducted and murdered less than a year later by government-backed paramilitaries, observed after Nadesan's killing.


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