A 6 April 2001 report published on the Tamil Canadian Website states that the Tamil language daily Thinakkural started publication on 6 April 1997 in Colombo, and that its founding editor was Pon Rajagobal. According to the report, Arumuga Sivanesaselvan, former editor of The Virakesari, later became the newspaper's editor-in- chief (TamilCanadian.com 6 Apr. 2001). The report also states that

Thinakkural's commitment towards standing always by what it believed to be the truth and bringing out the sufferings of the people was quite evident when it went ahead and published certain news items in spite of the censorship regulations imposed on the media. The Editor of Thinakkural and another journalist were taken in for questioning by the CID at that time (ibid.).

The November 1999 issue of the Sri Lanka Monitor states that, on 1 December 1999, the Sri Lanka police interrogated A. Sivanesachelvan who had breached censorship regulations on war related news after he wrote a report on "the plight of civilians in Vanni."

A 25 November 1999 Indian Express report states that

... the editor of a Tamil newspaper was picked up for questioning by the police for carrying a report on the war in northern Sri Lanka. Thinakkural editor A. S. Sivanesaselvan was taken by the CID this morning, allowed to return to his office in the afternoon, and then taken back again.

No information on whether the Editor-in-Chief and his family were harassed, detained and mistreated by the police in 2002 and 2003 could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

India Express [New Delhi]. 25 November 1999. Nirupama Subramanian. "Opposition Blames Chandrika for Church Attack." http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/19991125/ige25014.html [Accessed 13 May 2003]

Sri Lanka Monitor [Colombo]. November 1999. "In Brief: Interrogation." http://brcslproject.gn.apc.org/slmonitor/november99/good.html [Accessed 6 May 2003]

TamilCanadian.com. 6 April 2001. "First Tamil National Daily from Colombo to Go Online. http://www.news.tamilcanadian.com/news/2001/04/20010406_1.shtml [Accessed 6 May 2003]

IRB databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sites, including:

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Search engine tool

Country Reports 2002

Reporters Without Borders. Annual Report 2002 and search engine tool

TamilCanadian.com. Search engine tool

Tamil.Net. Search engine tool