08-25-2004, 08:10 AM
AUSTRALASIAN FEDERATION OF TAMIL ASSOCIATIONS INC
P O Box 215 Enfield NSW 2136
Email: tamand@ozemail.com.au
24th August 2004
International Secretariat :
Reporters sans frontières
5, rue Geoffroy-Marie
75009 Paris - France
Dear Sir,
We are alarmed and dismayed that the main suspect in the murder of the journalist
and BBC correspondent in Northern Sri Lanka Mr Mylvaganam Nimalarajan is about to
be granted asylum in the United Kingdom. The suspected killer who goes under the
aliases of Napoleon, Sebastian Ramesh and Poopal Raj was released on bail by
Vavuniya Magistrate Mr Visanthan on 21st May 2003. He arrived in the UK on 3rd June
2004 travelling under the name of Romankumar Patrick de Silva on a forged Sri Lankan
passport.
Mr Nimalarajan was killed on 19 October 2000 when a group of armed men entered his
home and having injured his father, mother and 11 year old nephew shot Mr
Nimalarajan at close range.
Mr Nimalarajan was well known and respected for his fearless reporting of events
from Army occupied Jaffna Peninsula. His reporting of the General Election of 2000
where intimidation and thuggery were widely employed had earned him the enmity of
the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) which was implicated in the election
violence. Mr Nimalarajan was also responsible for organising a protest march against
the attack launched on the offices of Uthayan, an independent daily operating in the
Jaffna Peninsula. Again, it was widely speculated that the EPDP was behind this
attack launched on 31st August 1999.
In a letter dated 21 March 2001, your General Secretary raised the issue with
Prime Minister Tony Blair urging him to raise the issue with the visiting Sri Lankan
President, Mrs Kumaratunge. In his letter to the British Prime Minister, Mr Robert
Menard, the General Secretary of RSF had this to say:
“On October 19, 2000 Mr Nimalarajan, correspondent for a number of Tamil media and
the BBC World Service in Jaffna, north of the country, was killed at his home.
Unknown assailants machine-gunned the room in which he was working and then threw
in a grenade. The journalist was living in a zone "made safe" by the Sri Lankan
Army.
The family and colleagues suspect the EPDP, a Tamil militia that is now a member of
the government coalition in Colombo and whose leader is a minister in the new
cabinet of Chandrika Kumaratunga.
The BBC journalist was known for his courageous reporting on the situation in the
Jaffna peninsula, and in particular on the outrages committed by the EPDP, the
ravages of war, human rights issues and corruption.
RSF considers it important that any aid that might be forthcoming from Britain
should be linked to an improvement in the human rights situation in Sir Lanka and in
particular to a genuine effort on the part of the government to end the impunity
enjoyed by the killers of Mylvaganam Nimalarajan.
We appeal to you to intervene with the president to see that a full investigation
can be held as soon as possible so that the journalist's killers can be identified.”
Referring to the same incident BBC’s Colombo Correspondent Frances Harrison had this
to say: “Reporters Without Borders who championed this case commented that it was
now apparent the police were unable or unwilling to conduct an investigation and
gather physical evidence……. Impunity is a word that's often used in Sri Lanka but
it's still astonishing that despite the peace process, the change of government and
the international attention given to this case - justice has not been done."
We call upon Reporters sans frontières to continue their attempts by urging the UK
Government to not grant asylum given the horrendous nature of the alleged crime.
Yours sincerely
Ana Pararajasingham
Chairman
Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations
P O Box 215 Enfield NSW 2136
Email: tamand@ozemail.com.au
24th August 2004
International Secretariat :
Reporters sans frontières
5, rue Geoffroy-Marie
75009 Paris - France
Dear Sir,
We are alarmed and dismayed that the main suspect in the murder of the journalist
and BBC correspondent in Northern Sri Lanka Mr Mylvaganam Nimalarajan is about to
be granted asylum in the United Kingdom. The suspected killer who goes under the
aliases of Napoleon, Sebastian Ramesh and Poopal Raj was released on bail by
Vavuniya Magistrate Mr Visanthan on 21st May 2003. He arrived in the UK on 3rd June
2004 travelling under the name of Romankumar Patrick de Silva on a forged Sri Lankan
passport.
Mr Nimalarajan was killed on 19 October 2000 when a group of armed men entered his
home and having injured his father, mother and 11 year old nephew shot Mr
Nimalarajan at close range.
Mr Nimalarajan was well known and respected for his fearless reporting of events
from Army occupied Jaffna Peninsula. His reporting of the General Election of 2000
where intimidation and thuggery were widely employed had earned him the enmity of
the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) which was implicated in the election
violence. Mr Nimalarajan was also responsible for organising a protest march against
the attack launched on the offices of Uthayan, an independent daily operating in the
Jaffna Peninsula. Again, it was widely speculated that the EPDP was behind this
attack launched on 31st August 1999.
In a letter dated 21 March 2001, your General Secretary raised the issue with
Prime Minister Tony Blair urging him to raise the issue with the visiting Sri Lankan
President, Mrs Kumaratunge. In his letter to the British Prime Minister, Mr Robert
Menard, the General Secretary of RSF had this to say:
“On October 19, 2000 Mr Nimalarajan, correspondent for a number of Tamil media and
the BBC World Service in Jaffna, north of the country, was killed at his home.
Unknown assailants machine-gunned the room in which he was working and then threw
in a grenade. The journalist was living in a zone "made safe" by the Sri Lankan
Army.
The family and colleagues suspect the EPDP, a Tamil militia that is now a member of
the government coalition in Colombo and whose leader is a minister in the new
cabinet of Chandrika Kumaratunga.
The BBC journalist was known for his courageous reporting on the situation in the
Jaffna peninsula, and in particular on the outrages committed by the EPDP, the
ravages of war, human rights issues and corruption.
RSF considers it important that any aid that might be forthcoming from Britain
should be linked to an improvement in the human rights situation in Sir Lanka and in
particular to a genuine effort on the part of the government to end the impunity
enjoyed by the killers of Mylvaganam Nimalarajan.
We appeal to you to intervene with the president to see that a full investigation
can be held as soon as possible so that the journalist's killers can be identified.”
Referring to the same incident BBC’s Colombo Correspondent Frances Harrison had this
to say: “Reporters Without Borders who championed this case commented that it was
now apparent the police were unable or unwilling to conduct an investigation and
gather physical evidence……. Impunity is a word that's often used in Sri Lanka but
it's still astonishing that despite the peace process, the change of government and
the international attention given to this case - justice has not been done."
We call upon Reporters sans frontières to continue their attempts by urging the UK
Government to not grant asylum given the horrendous nature of the alleged crime.
Yours sincerely
Ana Pararajasingham
Chairman
Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations


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