Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) has summoned yet another Tamil journalist form Mullaitivu to their headquarters in Colombo for questioning, as Eelam Tamil press workers continue to face intimidation for their work.
Thiruchelvam Divakaran, a freelance journalist and media officer at the Government Information Department, was summoned to the TID office at the Butani Capital Towers in Colombo for questioning, hundreds of miles away from his home in Mullativu.
Divakaran is asked to meet the Office-in-charge of the Terrorism Investigation Division to make a statement regarding an ongoing investigation. No further details were given.
Earlier this month, another Tamil journalist and Chairman of the Mullaitivu Press Club Shanmugam Thavaseelan was summoned to court later this month over a complaint filed by a Sri Lankan navy officer in 2019 after he reported on a disappearances rally in Mullaitivu.
Media freedom has long been an issue on the with state efforts to silence journalists and suppress their work. Dozens of mostly Tamil media workers have been killed or forcibly disappeared over the decades. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Sri Lanka is ranked currently 135th in the world in its press freedom index.
