Killing of Tamil journalists: Govt urged to launch fresh probe

 

Journalist collectives from North and Eastern provinces staged protest yesterday while marking 19th death anniversary of slain Tamil journalist S. Sukirtharajan in Trincomalee. Pix:Northeastern Monitor/ Theva Athiran

Tamil journalists from North and Eastern provinces urged the National Peoples' Power  (NPP) government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to launch a fresh probe into the past killings of at least 41 Tamil journalists and media workers during the wartime period. 

Marking the 19th year death anniversary of slain Tamil journalist Subramaniyam Sukirtharajan yesterday (24) in Trincomalee, collective journalist outfits and press clubs across the two provinces staged a protest and handed over a petition for government authorities to re-open the past killings of Tamil journalists. 

Organized by Eastern Provincial Journalist Forum- Batticaloa, the journalist outfit pointed out that despite fifteen years passed since the end of the war, no one was brought before justice over the killings of Tamil journalists. 

While urging the government to ensure justice and truth are served for the families of those slain journalists who were killed in the past, the journalist collective stressed that the government should make sure journalists are allowed to carry out their duties safely without any intimidation from authorities. 

Recently, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) along with 24 civil society organizations wrote to President Dissanayake urging his government to uphold press freedom and launch investigations into the journalist killings in the past. 

CPJ has documented a persistent pattern of impunity for murders and attacks against journalists in Sri Lanka, including dozens that occurred during and in the aftermath of the country’s 26-year civil war that ended in 2009, the CPJ said. (Northeastern Monitor/ January 25/2025)