Uthayan
April 29, 2007, in Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Rajeewarnam, a reporter for the Tamil-language daily Uthayan, was aboard a bicycle on assignment in Jaffna when he was shot by unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen about 600 feet (180 meters) from a military checkpoint, according to Uthayan staffers.
Rajeewarnam, a Tamil, had worked for another Tamil paper, Namadu Eelanadu, which closed soon after its managing editor, Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, was killed outside his home in Jaffna in August 2006. Rajeewarnam had worked at Uthayan for about four months.
Uthayan has often been under attack. In September 2006, CPJ called on Sri Lankan authorities to fulfill their duty to protect Uthayan's staff after receiving a telephone plea from E. Saravanapavan, the paper's managing director, to publicize the numerous threats against his staff.
Medium: Print
Job: Print Reporter
Beats Covered: Politics, War
Gender: Male
Local or Foreign: Local
Freelance: No
Type of Death: Murder
Suspected Source of Fire: Political Group
Impunity: Yes
Taken Captive: No
Tortured: No
Threatened: Yes
Related Articles:
- Attacks on the Press 2007: Sri Lanka, February 5, 2008
- Tamil-language daily threatened , January 6, 2008
- Amid civil strife, another Tamil journalist killed in Sri Lanka , April 30, 2007
