Grenades thrown at Sudaroli office on monday

Parliamentary reporters of Sudaroli Tamil newspaper were assaulted when they were waiting for a bus after covering a parliamentary session.

Puththirasigamani was seriously injured while Arumugam Varatharajah received minor injuries, a member of the Sudaroli editorial told bbcsinhala.com website.

Fourth attack

The motivation of the attackers, who have fled after the incident, is unknown.

However, the spokesman said it was clear the journalists were assaulted due to their journalistic work.

Sudaroli newspaper, he said, came under four attacks during recent weeks.

“First, a grenade was thrown at our office. Then our reporter who went to cover a JVP rally was assaulted. Third one was yesterday’s bomb attacks,” the spokesman told BBC Sandeshaya.

Impunity

Meanwhile, Media workers have strongly condemned recent attacks on the newspaper.

Working Journalists Association of Sri Lanka (WJASL) has expressed concern that the authorities are yet to find suspects of the earlier attacks on Sudaroli.

“It is unfortunate that the relevant authorities could not provide an adequate security to the Sudaroli newspaper institution, while it was obvious to everybody that the said institution was facing a greater security threat,” the statement added.

It urged the authorities to act immediately to bring an end to violence against media and civil society.