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Alert

FMM condemns minister's linking of murdered journalist Milevanagam Nimalarajan to LTTE armed wing

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is an FMM press release:

The Free Media Movement (FMM) condemns attempts by Mr. Dougles Devananda, the leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party and a minister in the Sri Lankan government, to paint the murdered journalist Milevanagam Nimalarajan as an LTTE activist, in a bid to justify his murder.




Mr. Nimalarajan was murdered in Jaffna on October 19th 2000 by yet to be identified gunmen. Mr. Devananda, in a series of television and newspaper interviews, has accused the late Mr. Nimalarajan of being connected with the armed wing of the LTTE. However, Mr. Devananda never made these allegations when Mr. Nimalarjan was alive and functioned as a journalist for nearly a decade.

The FMM is puzzled as to why Mr. Devanada did not make a complaint to the police or the military if he had information that Mr. Nimalarajan had connections to the LTTE. It raises suspicion as to whether or not making such a complaint is part of the conspiracy to murder the journalist.

The conduct of Mr. Devananda is especially dangerous because he is currently the minister in charge of the northern province. Mr. Devavanda is not only a minister but also controls an armed group which runs a parallel administration in the north. Such a powerful person justifying the murder of a journalist could be seen as a warning by other journalists working in the north. The FMM would like to point out that the courts have released a number of Tamil journalists arrested for alleged connections with the LTTE. FMM wonders whether Mr. Nimalarajan was killed due to this reason. We appeal to Minister Devananda to refrain from making false allegations against a murdered journalist and instead to order an independent inquiry into the murder.

The FMM requests that the government take immediate steps for the safety of journalists working in the north and east.

Victor Ivan Convenor

Sunanda Deshapriya
Acting Secretary