In a joint statement, the International Truth and Justice Project, Redress and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka welcomed the arrest of the suspected murder of Nimalarajan Mylvaganam, a high-profile Tamil journalist who was murdered in his home in October 2000.
“The proactive investigation which led to the arrest demonstrates the commitment of the Metropolitan Police to justice and accountability even twenty-two years later. Those who kill journalists are not safe anywhere in the world. It is abhorrent that an alleged killer of a BBC journalist should hide in the UK,” Yasmin Sooka, Executive Director of the International Truth and Justice Project, told Redress.
The metropolitan police arrested a 48-year-old man, who they have not named, under Section 51 of the UK’s International Criminal Court Act 2001. The act permits British authorities to prosecute cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide wherever they take place in the world, under the principle of “universal jurisdiction”.
The government-aligned paramilitary group the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) are suspected of carrying out the killing. Earlier last year, the Sri Lankan Attorney General's department ordered the release of the suspects involved in the murder case. At least two other suspects were thought to have been abroad.
Responding to the arrest Charlie Loudon of Redress stated:
“This case is enormously significant as a signal that impunity will not be tolerated and that if countries like Sri Lanka won’t prosecute there are other options […] We hope the UK police will pursue justice in this case even without the cooperation of the Sri Lankan authorities”.
Former BBC journalist Frances Harrison recalled his death, and the struggle to get justice for it, in a 2004 piece towards the end of her time on the island.
She detailed the night Nimalarajan was killed.
Two armed men burst into Nimalarajan's house as he was listening to the news on the BBC Tamil service at night.
One man shot Nimalarajan five times in the head and chest. The other knifed his elderly father; the medical report said he had thirty three centimetres of cuts on his face and neck.
Nimalarajan's mother came out of the bathroom to see her husband and son bleeding on the floor. At that point, the attackers tossed a hand grenade into the sitting room.
The mother and nephew were badly injured. The gunmen departed, firing in the air as they went.
All this, a short distance from a military checkpoint and during curfew hours.
Read more in her piece here.
Read more here: British war crimes police arrest man over murder of Tamil journalist in Jaffna
Read the full statement here.