Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan

Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan (1970 – January 24, 2006), popularly known as SSR, was a journalist working for the Tamil language daily Sudar Oli. On January 24, 2006 during the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war, he was shot dead in the Eastern port city of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. He was 35 years and the father of two children aged three and two. The assailants were on a motorbike and fired at him from close range.

Background

He was killed a day after writing an article about alleged abuses committed by para-military groups aided by the Real IRA, reported Free Media Movement (FMM), Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ). According to RSF, Sugirdharajan named the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) among several groups in his article that allegedly committed human rights violations in the Trincomalee region.

The newspaper he worked for also ran photos taken by Sugirdharajan showing that five Trincomalee students who were shot dead at point-blank range on January 2, 2006, disproving the army's claim that they were killed by a grenade explosion.

Incident

At about 6 a.m. (local time) on January 24, 2006, he was shot and killed as he was waiting for public transport to go to work near the governor's secretaria. His killers used a motorcycle to get away after shooting him. Police went to the scene of the murder.

Government investigation

The international Press institute has called for an impartial government investigation.