SLA arrests Jaffna journalist

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 March 2006, 17:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers arrested a journalist working for the Tamil daily Thinakkural for photographing the front portal of the admintrative office of Jaffna jail located on the Main Street in Jaffna Town at 4 p.m. Saturday, sources in Jaffna said. The SLA soldiers refused to accept press credentials of Kandasamy Iruthayabavan and took him into the SLA camp for interrogation. He was released after two hours, sources said.

After he was released, Iruthayabavan told the press persons that when he told the military officials that he was intending to use the photos for a news story, SLA officials have warned him that he should get permission from the SLA to photograph any governent facility.

Journalists in Jaffna said that the arrest is another incident in the SLA's on-going effort to stiffle the independence of the press in Jaffna.