Journalist freed in Sri Lanka
Posted: October 24, 2007
Munusamy Parameshawary (right) leaving court in Sri Lanka. The journalist had been the subject of an Amnesty Urgent Action appeal. LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/ AFP/Getty Images
On March 22, 2007, journalist Munusamy Parameshawary walked free from a courtroom in Colombo, Sri Lanka, after the Supreme Court ordered her release.
Security forces had arrested Munusamy Parameshawary in November 2006 after she had written newspaper articles about “disappearances” in Sri Lanka. She was never charged with an offence. For the first month of her detention, she was denied access to a lawyer.
Since early 2006, there has been a clampdown on press freedom in Sri Lanka. Journalists who have reported on human rights abuses have been harassed and arrested.
Amnesty International is very concerned about the crackdown, and is calling on the Sri Lankan authorities to stop intimidating journalists.