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Journalist abducted, assaulted

COLOMBO: Journalists held a demonstration in Colombo on Friday to protest the abduction of a senior journalist and defence analyst, Keith Noyahr, on Thursday.

Mr. Noyahr, Deputy Editor of the English weekly The Nation, was abducted from the outskirts of Colombo.

He was severely beaten up and released just before dawn.

The release came after journalists’ organisations and others took up the matter with the government. With the intensification of fighting between the security forces and LTTE, there has been a sharp rise in cases of intimidation and threats to journalists in recent months.

Most journalists are convinced that Mr. Noyahr’s abduction was connected to his articles on defence issues.

On Thursday, Mr. Noyahr left his office around 10.30 p.m. His vehicle was found in front of his house, lights and engine running. Free Media Movement (FMM), an NGO dealing with journalists’ issues in Sri Lanka, in a statement asserted there was no other reason for Mr. Noyahr’s abduction, other than his independent writing and analysis of the war in northern Sri Lanka.

A claymore attack killed at least 16 civilians, including four children, in the LTTE-controlled Wanni region on Friday.

The van carrying the victims was allegedly attacked by the Deep Penetration Unit of the military.

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