Minister to sue Thinamurasu

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Post and Telecommunications and Media Mr. M.L.A.M.Hisbulah (SLMC) will file a case against 'Thinamurasu', a Tamil weekly with the largest circulation in Sri Lanka, for libel, claiming 2.5 million Rupees from the paper, said sources closed to the SLMC leader today.

The minister consulted his lawyers for filing action against the paper for publishing a story in its May 17-23 issue, that he had gifted 25 motorcycles to the Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa.

In the same news item, the Thinamurasu said, the minister had recently proceeded from Welikanda to Batticaloa without heeding the warnings of the army, that the road had not been cleared for traffic, implying that the minister had a tacit understanding with the Liberation Tigers for his security.

This is the first time the minister is reacting to reports in the Sri Lankan press since 1996, that he has a close rapport with the Tigers in Batticaloa.