Jaffna journalist says beaten up, threatened

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 July 2002, 05:26 GMT]
The President of the Jaffna journalists' Association, Mr. Veluppillai Thavachelvam complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the International Committee of the Red Cross Tuesday that he was abducted and beaten up by armed persons who accused him of working for the Liberation Tigers.

Mr. Thavachelvam said that armed persons had stopped him on the Jaffna Pt. Pedro Road between Atchuveli and Aavarangaal around 7.30 p.m. Monday and forced him at gun point into a van without number plates.

The journalist said he was blindfolded and taken to an isolated spot where he was beaten up and threatened with death.

His abductors had accused him of being an LTTE agent sent from the Vanni and had forced him to tear up a wad of money that was in his pocket. Later his abductors had dropped him off near the Vallai Bridge SLA, Police sentry on the Jaffna Pt. Pedro Road, Mr. Thavachelvam said.

Mr. Thavachelvam contributes to local newspapers and is the editor/ publisher of the monthly magazine 'Vaan Osia' in Jaffna.

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