Police question BBC Tamil Service journalist in Vavuniya
Wednesday, 4 September 2013 00:18
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The Terrorist Investigations Division (TID) of Sri Lanka Police has questioned a BBC Tamil Service reporter based in Vavuniya in the Northern Province.
The BBC reported that their correspondent Ponniah Manigavasakam was summoned to Colombo Monday and questioned for nearly two hours by the TID. However, he was not informed of the reason for questioning or of any charges against him prior to his visit to Colombo and the TID has denied his request for counsel, Manigavasakam told BBC.
The respective Tamil journalist, according to the BBC Tamil Service, has been reporting for the BBC from the north for some 15 years.The TID had questioned the reporter about his reports on political prisoners at the Magazine prison and some telephone calls he had received from Tamil prisoners.
The reporter had told the TID that as a journalist it was nothing new to receive telephone calls from prisoners or their family members.