SLA provides security to Tamil dailies’ distributors in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 June 2009, 04:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA), following the burning of all copies of three Tamil dailies intended for distribution in Jaffna district Thursday, allegedly by the armed group operating with the Sri Lanka military intelligence, provided escort by armed motorbike squad Friday morning to the newspaper distribution staff on motorcycles, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, SLA deployed security guards for the offices of Valampuri and Yarl Thinakural Tamil dailies in Jaffna with effect from Friday though the editors of these dailies have rejected SLA security in the past, the sources added.

The office of Uthayan, one of the Tamil dailies set fire to Thursday, is provided security following past attacks.

SLA has arranged to provide security to the distributors of the dailies in Jaffna peninsula including Thenmaraadchi, Vadamaraadchi and the islets of Jaffna, under the supervision of local SLA officers, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Civil society sources in Jaffna said that in the context of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) expected receive strong support in the forthcoming Jaffna Municipal Council election, the SLA, suspicious of the role played by the dailies in the campaign, is deploying security guards at the offices to curtail and to monitor the dailies’ activities.