Press Statement

Sri Lanka: Reopen the investigation into the murder of journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan

24 May, 2021

The Attorney General has informed the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court that no further action will be taken
against the suspects arrested in connection with the murder of journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan and
the suspects have been acquitted.

Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association (SLWJA) is deeply disturbed by this Attorney General’s
notification and the court proceedings that followed, and is paying close attention to the facts that
Attorney General is making this announcement two decades after reporting the murder of journalist
Nimalarajan to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court, without mentioning the need to investigate other
suspects, if any, involved in the brutal murder and also without informing the IGP.

Accordingly, it is now clear that there is no suspect in the murder of journalist Nimalarajan and that he
was not killed. He has been made to decide whether he committed suicide. Allowing assassins to go free
in this way is a threat to a democratic society. It is also a threat to media freedom when the crime is
committed against the media.

In this regard, we urge the Attorney General and the IGP to reopen the investigation into the murder of
journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan and bring the perpetrators to justice.