05-04-2004, 08:04 AM
Police rummage Tamil journalists home for weapons
Associated Press, Tue May 4, 2004 02:49 EDT . DILIP GANGULY - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Police searched the home of a prominent Sri Lankan journalist in the capital Colombo while he was out of town taking part in World Press Freedom Day celebrations, the journalist said Tuesday. ``That the police should have chosen World Press Freedom Day to raid a well-known Tamil journalist's home speaks volumes for the state of media freedom in Sri Lanka - ,'' said R. Thurairatnam, president of the Sri Lanka - Tamil Media Alliance, a watchdog group. Sivaram was attending World Press Freedom Day events in the eastern city of Batticoloa when the search took place.
``The raid on the Tamil journalist's home is an act of crude intimidation aimed at stepping up pressure on Mr. Sivaram's family and thereby prevent him from writing critically on sensitive issues affecting the Tamil people,'' Thurairatnam said in a statement.
Sivaram was threatened with death in 2000 and 2001 by unidentified armed groups believed to be working clandestinely with the Sri Lankan state and by an ethnic Sinhala extremist group, according to reports in Tamil newspapers then.
Sivaram's Web site has gained widespread notoriety for its reporting on Tamil affairs, with special emphasis on human rights violations by government security forces.
In 2001, Sivaram said he feared for his life after Sri Lankan newspapers linked him with Tamil Tiger separatists.
Sri Lanka - 's civil war was born of an ancient conflict between two ethnic groups with their own distinct languages, cultures and history. The majority Sinhalese who are 14 million of Sri Lanka - 's 19 million people are mainly Buddhist. Most of the 3.2 million Tamils are Hindus, like Sivaram.
Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, a British Broadcasting Corp. journalist based in the northern city of Jaffna, was shot to death in his home in October 2000 after being accused of working for the rebels.
Associated Press, Tue May 4, 2004 02:49 EDT . DILIP GANGULY - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Police searched the home of a prominent Sri Lankan journalist in the capital Colombo while he was out of town taking part in World Press Freedom Day celebrations, the journalist said Tuesday. ``That the police should have chosen World Press Freedom Day to raid a well-known Tamil journalist's home speaks volumes for the state of media freedom in Sri Lanka - ,'' said R. Thurairatnam, president of the Sri Lanka - Tamil Media Alliance, a watchdog group. Sivaram was attending World Press Freedom Day events in the eastern city of Batticoloa when the search took place.
``The raid on the Tamil journalist's home is an act of crude intimidation aimed at stepping up pressure on Mr. Sivaram's family and thereby prevent him from writing critically on sensitive issues affecting the Tamil people,'' Thurairatnam said in a statement.
Sivaram was threatened with death in 2000 and 2001 by unidentified armed groups believed to be working clandestinely with the Sri Lankan state and by an ethnic Sinhala extremist group, according to reports in Tamil newspapers then.
Sivaram's Web site has gained widespread notoriety for its reporting on Tamil affairs, with special emphasis on human rights violations by government security forces.
In 2001, Sivaram said he feared for his life after Sri Lankan newspapers linked him with Tamil Tiger separatists.
Sri Lanka - 's civil war was born of an ancient conflict between two ethnic groups with their own distinct languages, cultures and history. The majority Sinhalese who are 14 million of Sri Lanka - 's 19 million people are mainly Buddhist. Most of the 3.2 million Tamils are Hindus, like Sivaram.
Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, a British Broadcasting Corp. journalist based in the northern city of Jaffna, was shot to death in his home in October 2000 after being accused of working for the rebels.
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