Protest planned against Nadesan killing

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 June 2004, 12:38 GMT]
Sri Lankan journalists’ associations are planning to picket outside the main railway station in Colombo, Wednesday, protesting against the killing of leading Tamil journalist Mr. Iyathurai Nadesan. The Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) are organising the protest, media sources said.

The picketing will commence at 12.30 p.m. and end at 1.30 p.m.

The campaign slogan will be "Freedom of Expression Will Prevail-Killing Won't Stop Us," the sources said.

Mr. Iyathurai Nadesan was gunned down by unidentified men 31 May in Batticaloa, when he was going to work in a motorbike from his residence.

Meanwhile, the Newspapers Society of Sri Lanka (NSSL) and the Editors' Guild of Sri Lanka (EGSL) have condemned the killing of Journalist Mr.Nadesan and called upon the government to carry out a full investigation.

"Any attack on a journalist is an attack on Freedom of Expression and on Democracy. The murder of a journalist is a deathblow to these two foundations of a free society. The perpetrators of this crime, whoever they may be, deserve the condemnation of all freedom loving citizens of the country, and must be brought to justice at the shortest possible time," said a joint-statement issued by the NSSL and EGSL.