Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah

Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah
Born Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Died August 20, 2006
Jaffna
Ethnicity Sri Lankan Tamil
Occupation Editor and Publisher of Namathu Eelanadu newspaper
Notable credit(s) Member of Parliament
Religion Hindu

Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah (died August 20, 2006) was the managing director of Namathu Eelanadu, a Tamil-language newspaper, in Jaffna, he was also a former Member of Parliament for the Tamil United Liberation Front, and a member of the pro LTTE Tamil National Alliance in the Sri Lankan Parliament.[1] He has also served as the President of the Consortium of Valikamam North Public Organizations.[2] He is from Tellippalai.

Background

Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah founded the Namathu Eelanadu in 2002 which had a special focus on the Jaffna peninsula and its news coverage was seen as pro-Tamil nationalist and the Sri Lankan army had carried out a raid on the newspaper office in December 2005.He also campaigned against the displacement of Tamils in Jaffna due to the High security zones.[3][4] His killing is part of series of killing,abduction and attacks on the Tamil Media in Sri Lanka[5][6][7] He had earlier received death threats and accused of being an LTTE agent.[8]

Incident

He was shot dead inside his house which was 300 metres inside the High Security Zone of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Tellippalai in Jaffna on August 20, 2006.[9]

Reaction

The UNESCO condemned the killing.

"I condemn the murder of Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah",

the UNESCO Director-General declared.

“I am very concerned about the targeting of journalists and media workers in the conflict in Sri Lanka and must remind all parties that the killing of journalists will not help them achieve their end

[10][11]

Government investigation

The international Press institute has called in for impartial government investigation.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ BBC Former Tamil MP killed in Jaffna
  2. ↑ Pro-LTTE media person killed in Jaffna
  3. ↑ Sivamaharajah assassinated
  4. ↑ Editor Murdered
  5. ↑ Tamil media caught in ongoing conflict
  6. ↑ Intimidation of Tamil media.
  7. ↑ Press Freedom, World Review, June - November 2006
  8. ↑ Sri Lanka: Jaffna journalists protest "targeting" by paramilitaries .
  9. ↑ Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah 2005
  10. ↑ Director-General condemns murder of Sri Lankan newspaper managing director Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah: UNESCO-CI
  11. ↑ UNESCO
  12. ↑ "Joint Mission to Sri Lanka - International Advocacy and Fact Finding". IPI. 2007-06-25. Retrieved 2007-06-25.

External links