Acting on a complaint lodged by the Governor of the Northern Province P.S.M. Charles, the editor-in-chief of the Valampuri Tamil newspaper was interrogated for several hours by Jaffna police over an article that appeared on March 18th.
The complaint was reportedly over an editorial titled “An urgent note for the Northern Province Governor” which appeared in the publication on March 18th. The editor-in-chief N.Vijayasundaram was summoned to appear before the Jaffna police where he was interrogated for several hours and asked to make a formal statement. The complaint was however registered under the name of the Accountant of the Nothern Province Governor’s Office, acting on her behalf.
Publications such as Valampuri among others in the Tamil homeland continue to be published under extremely difficult conditions, while reporters engage in self-censorship to stay safe.
A notable name is Subramaniam Ramachandran, who remains disappeared to date. Ramachandran was a local correspondent for both the Yaal Thinakkural and Valampuri newspapers when he disappeared in February 2007 inside a Sri Lankan Army Camp in Vadamarachchi. His parents had initially thought he was being detained under investigation. Ramachandran’s mobile phone remained connected for several days after his disappearance.
In another incident, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in 2018 called on Sri Lankan authorities to end the harassment of Tamil Guardian’s Jaffna-based correspondent, Uthayarasa Shalin. Shalin was also reporting for Valampuri when he became the target of harassment and intimidation for over two months by the Terrorism Investigation Department. In a previous incident in 2013 Shalin, who was on his way to the office, was ambushed and attacked by a gang of six men carrying 'mannvettis' (heavy metal hoes). He was left by the roadside until he was found by passersby and taken to the Jaffna Hospital.
Media freedom has long been an issue with state efforts to silence journalists and suppress their work. Dozens of mostly Tamil media workers have been killed or forcibly disappeared over the decades. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Sri Lanka is ranked currently 135th in the world in its press freedom index.
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