The Jaffna Press Club “strongly condemns” the treatment meted out by the military to Tamil journalists, travelling to a work shop in Colombo, and accused the Sri Lankan security forces of deliberately placing marijuana in the vehicle they were travelling in.

In a statement, the group said that Sri Lanka is “committed to preventing journalists from the North from fostering a relationship with journalists in the south in every way [and] repressing them by any means available”.

“On one hand, as the Sri Lankan government is trying to portray the journalists of the [Jaffna] peninsula as terrorists, on the other, it is taking measures to ensure their circle of contacts does not widen,” the statement charged.

The statement described how the journalists were followed by vehicles, from Jaffna, before being stopped at Maankulam and Omanthai, by members of the police and the military.

Journalists witnessed the placement of the marijuana by a soldier, before it was picked up by the police who then took the journalists to the police station in Omanthai, where they confiscated the journalists’ mobile phones and laptops.

They were released the next day, however the driver of their vehicle was arrested.

See full statement here.

See below for related stories.

Police summons 7 Tamil journalists who protested against military for questioning (28 July 2014)

Military stop Tamil journalists travelling to press workshop, driver detained (26 July 2014)