US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO1451

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001451 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS (BRENNIG, SIM) SA/PD (SCENSNY, ROGERS); 
SSA/PAS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, PTER, EAID, OIIP, PREL, CE, LTTE - Peace Process, Human Rights 
SUBJECT:   Leading Tamil Announcer and Husband Murdered in 
Daylight Hours Shortly Before Kadirgamar Assassination 
 
REFTELS: A) Colombo 812; B)Colombo 832 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Following the high-profile April 29 
murder of Tamil commentator Dharmaretnam Sivaram (Ref A)and 
several alleged death threats received by other prominent 
Tamil journalists (Ref B), a well-known Tamil radio and 
television personality and her husband  -- a former member 
of the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eeelam 
(PLOTE), a rival group to the LTTE -- were murdered at lunch 
time on August 12, 2005,in the travel agency they owned in 
Colombo.    While police continue to investigate, some local 
news media have blamed the LTTE for this double murder. 
Tamil newspapers and websites that support the Tamil Tigers 
have suggested their murders were linked to a financial 
dispute.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) Senior announcer at Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation 
(SLRC) and Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) Mrs. 
Relangi Selvarajah (45) and her husband, Mr. Sinnadurai 
Selvarajah (48) were killed by unidentified gunmen on 
Friday, August 12, at around 12:45 P.M., several hours 
before Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was 
assassinated.  The murders occurred in a travel agency the 
couple owned in Colombo, while all four employees were 
reportedly out of the office for lunch.  Their murders 
occurred several months after the April 29 murder of pro- 
LTTE senior journalist D. Shivaram and reports of death 
threats against other Tamil journalists. 
 
3.  (SBU) The Tamil media published Mrs. Selvarajah's 
obituary as a celebrated drama and media personality, (she 
had received a best actress award for a 1978 Sri Lankan 
film), while also reporting the couple's connection to PLOTE 
in a matter of fact manner. One Tamil contact told 
Information Officer Mrs. Selvarajah's radio and television 
broadcasts, including "Idaya Veenai" ("Music to the Heart") 
and "Uthaya Dharasanam" ("Morning Vision") had been 
staunchly anti-LTTE and therefore he was not surprised she 
had been killed.  He further stated both Mr. and Mrs. 
Selvarajah campaigned actively for the PLOTE cause despite 
ending official ties with the organization some fifteen 
years ago.  The source went on to allege the couple had been 
involved in trafficking of Sri Lankan Tamils to Canada and 
other western countries. 
 
4.  (SBU) Many of Relangi Selvarajah's former colleagues 
concur with the allegation that the LTTE committed the 
double murder.  According to a reliable veteran political 
commentator Relangi Selvarajah's radio programs were very 
anti-LTTE, and very pro-EPDP. (Note: The Eelam People's 
Democratic Party, led by LTTE-rival Douglas Devananda, holds 
one elected seat in Parliament.  The LTTE alleges the Sri 
Lankan government supports an EPDP paramilitary and the LTTE 
is suspected of several attempts on Devananda's life amidst 
heavy government-provided security.)  Her programs focused 
on development of the northern areas, purportedly part of 
EPDP MP Douglas Devananda's portfolio.  A colleague of Mrs. 
Selvarajah at Rupavahini stated: "Relangi was openly 
criticizing the LTTE in her TV programs, and because of her 
roots in Jaffna," had knowledge with which she "helped the 
Sri Lanka Army with their logistical arrangements" in the 
North.  The Rupavahini colleague said he believed she and 
her husband were killed by the LTTE.  Sri Lanka Broadcasting 
Corporation reporter Lafir Mohammed, however, offered a 
different motive, asserting the murders were "due to a 
personal dispute regarding their travel agency." 
 
5.  (U) Most Sinhala newspapers ran headlines such as "TV 
broadcaster and husband shot dead," with the exception of 
Sinhala nationalist daily Divaina, sister paper to the 
English language Island, which portrayed the victims as a 
Tamil couple caught up in internal Tiger politics.  Divaina 
bannered (8/13), "Tigers crash into Wellewatte business to 
kill Tamil couple," emphasizing an ethnic angle. Reporters 
Sans Frontieres released a statement on August 16 condemning 
the double murder. 
 
6.  (SBU) With approximately fifty percent of the island's 
audience, the state-owned broadcast media conglomerate, 
including Rupavahini (SLRC) television and Sri Lanka 
Broadcasting Corporation's (SLBC), has a larger television 
and radio audience than do independent stations, with many 
regional broadcast centers.  Like other state-run media 
organizations, SLRC and SLBC generally function as the 
government's mouthpiece.  Although government and state-run 
media sometimes publish the statements of rival Tamil groups 
such as the EPDP and TULF (Tamil United Liberation Front), 
the independent Tamil media do not openly criticize the LTTE 
nor take positions regarding other political parties. 
Nevertheless, some Tamil observers claim that recent Tamil 
language programs on state-owned TV took a distinctly anti- 
LTTE, pro-EPDP stand. 
 
7.  (SBU) Comment: As a broadcaster for the state-owned 
media, Relangi Selvarajah did not practice the self- 
censorship evident in independent Tamil journalists' 
reporting on the LTTE and Tamil politics. Combined with her 
husband's PLOTE connection, the couple's outspokenness 
against the LTTE likely provoked their double murder.  The 
LTTE brooks little dissent from Tamil journalists considered 
traitors to the Tigers. The murder of another prominent 
Tamil journalist and her husband will only add to many Sri 
Lankan journalists' fears about the freedom they have to 
publish or broadcast their views.  End Comment. 
 
Entwistle