Several weeks into Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency, journalists on the island are coming under increasing threat. Whilst the island has always been a dangerous place for the press, and for Tamil journalists in particular, over the last month there has been a worrying rise in intimidation, harassment and even physical assaults of media workers, alongside political activists and human rights defenders.

The longest serving Tamil political prisoner who was arrested at the age of 17 in 1993 has died.

Sellapillai Mahendran was arrested during a round-up in Batticaloa on September 27, 1993. Two years later, he was sentenced to 70 years in prison and life imprisonment based on a confession produced following a month of torture in detention. After appealing the conviction at Sri Lanka's Supreme Court, the 70-year sentence was reduced to 10 years but the life sentence was upheld.

While some sources claim that his 1995 conviction was in connection with the alleged killing of 600 police officers in the East - an incident which took place three years prior when Mahendran was aged just 14 - his family said that they were never told the reason for his conviction.

Sinamkol, a film shot entirely in parts of Tamil Eelam has widely received rave reviews and is currently playing at a number of screens.

Ranjith Joseph, the director described the film as one that importantly “talks about the economic and cultural struggles the Tamils face in Sri Lanka, post the war”. The cast and the production team reflect the range of Eelam Tamils across the globe with cast and crew sourced from the diaspora community and locally. 

The film received praise from numerous members of the film industry. 

Tamil Eelam FA will be among the 16 teams competing in the 2020 Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) World Football Cup, after an impressing double victory in the qualifiers powered the team through to the tournament. 

The team played two CONIFA World Football 2020 qualifiers in December against East Turkistan and West Papua. Victory in both games saw Tamil Eelam gain enough points to qualify for the 2020 World Football Cup taking place between 30 May - 7 June 2020 in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia.

Iran’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka Mohammad Zaeri Amirani met with Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne at his office, to discuss possible training opportunities that could be offered to Sri Lankan Police and Armed Forces personnel in Iran, on Thursday.

Families of the disappeared in Vavuniya paid tribute to a Tamil political prisoner who passed away after 26 years of imprisonment, as they marked over 1,050 days of protest last week.

Sellapillai Mahendran was arrested as a teenager during a round-up in Batticaloa on September 27, 1993. He passed away last week after 26 years of imprisonment, based on a false confession produced following a month of torture in detention. 

Tamil Guardian's Batticaloa-based correspondent S Nilanthan has been charged and told to appear in court next week over his reporting on alleged corruption with regards to a local government official.

Nilanthan had been reporting on Tamil-language news platforms on corruption allegations made about the Chenkalady divisional secretary (DS). He had also covered a protest against the DS outside the Divisional Secretariat, carried out by local residents.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that countries were "angry with our armed forces,” as he addressed new troops at a passing out parade in the south last month.

The prime minister, who stands accused of overseeing war crimes during his previous term as president of Sri Lanka, went on to state that the Sri Lankan military should be “proud” of its record.

A Tamil journalist who was murdered by the Sri Lankan army in 1985 was commemorated by his family, colleagues and community members in Amparai last week.

Ganapathipillai Devaraja was arrested in a Sri Lankan military roundup on December 25 1985, and assassinated at the Vattuvan army camp. He was working as a journalist for Virakesari at the time.

Sri Lankan police in plain clothing entered the house of a Tamil Guardian correspondent in Batticaloa, purportedly to arrest him, and threatened his family when it was discovered he was not at home.

Police forcibly entered the home of journalist S Nilanthan on Thursday night at around 9.10pm. Since Nilanthan was not at the house, police threatened his family and warned them to tell Nilanthan to appear at Eravur police station the following morning.

The journalist’s family have been left in fear that the police refused to provide reasons for seeking Nilanthan’s arrest, and that they appeared at night and in plain clothing.

More to follow.