Tamil journalist Puniyamoorthy Sathiyamoorthy, who was killed by a Sri Lankan artillery barrage inside the 'No Fire Zone' in February 2009, was remembered in Batticaloa and Jaffna yesterday.
Sathiyamoorthy began contributing to 'Pulikalin Kural' (Voice of Tigers) and later wrote the military column for the 'Eezhanaatham' daily. He was reporting from inside the 'No Fire Zone' when Sri Lankan artillery shells landed in the Mullaitivu district.
In the final months of the armed conflict, tens of thousands of Tamils were killed alongside Sathiyamoorthy in the government declared 'No Fire Zones' where the Sri Lankan government continued to fire heavy artillery.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that Sathiyamoorthy "strove to maintain journalistic standards and an accurate representation of the wartime situations in which he found himself. His work had global impact, reaching large numbers of Tamils living overseas."
At the time, TamilNet wrote:
"True to his name 'Sathiyamoorthy' (Manifestation of Truth) was known for his forthright and candid description of unfolding events, according to his media colleagues."
The remembrance events were held at the Jaffna Press Club and Batticaloa Press Club offices.
Jaffna
Batticaloa
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