IMPUNITY AROUND NIMALARAJAN'S ASSASSINATION AND THE QUESTION OF ACCOUNTABILITY

The case of Mylvanagam Nimalarajan' states that Sri Lanka has systematically protected the murderers and perpetrators of these crimes Nimalarajan's daughter in one of the accounts said she has placed hopes on the incumbent government to ensure justice to her father's murder

- By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe

As many as 44 media workers and journalists have been killed between 2000 -2010 and a recently launched report titled 'Killing Sri Lankan journalists: The case of Mylvanagam Nimalarajan' states that Sri Lanka has systematically protected the murderers and perpetrators of these crimes.

The report was launched during an event organised by 'Families of the Disappeared' to commemorate the work of this brave journalist and it is an example of the ongoing impunity surrounding the assassination of Nimalarajan. He was the Jaffna correspondent for Virakesari newspaper and for Sinhala weeklies Haraya and Ravaya. He reported for Tamilnet and was a stringer for BBC's Tamil and Sinhala service. The report underscores the systemic failure to prosecute those responsible, failures that may have tragically enabled further violations, including subsequent targeted killings by suspects who were never brought to justice.

Who is accountable for crimes committed against journalists?