Tamil journalist released on bail fears targeted persecution by SL military

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 April 2019, 22:18 GMT]
The SL Police in Mullaith-theevu was acting on a false accusation filed by a Sinhala navy sailor who was blaming Tamil journalist Shanmugam Thavaseelan in Mullaiththeevu as having assaulted him and insulted him on 07th April at Vadduvaakal. “It was the intervention by journalists like me that prevented the situation getting into worse when the people protesting at Vadduvaakal caught him for suspiciously photographing them,” the 33-year-old journalist told media on Saturday after being released on bail. The hearing of the case is scheduled for April 30.





The initial incident was witnessed by many, and there were around eight people who were keeping the SLN person in their custody.

The SL Police was also a witness as it was the SLN sailor was handed over to the police officers outside the SLN camp on 07th April. The SLN sailor has later admitted himself to a hospital and started to claim that the protesters had assaulted him.

On Saturday, the SL police detained the journalist after recording a statement from him.

None of the people involved in the episode, except the journalist, have been questioned by the SL Police.

As such, the SL military was selectively targeting Thavaseelan for his reporting activities, the journalist claimed.

Mr Thavaseelan has been at the forefront in covering the peaceful protests of the families of enforced disappeared and the uprooted people in Mullaiththeevu district.

He was subjected to threats following the coverage of Tamil Heroes Remembrance at A'lampil last year.

The SL military establishment has been harassing the Tamil journalists engaged in covering the protests and the commemoration events.

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