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Tamil paper shut down for breaking war censorship rules |
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May 21, 2000
COLOMBO, MAY 20 (AP) - Officials shut down northern Jaffna's only Tamil newspaper for violating censorship laws by reporting suspected casualties in an air force bombing raid, the government censor said Saturday.
"The paper (Udayan) has been continuously violating laws," said Ariya Rubasinghe, the government spokesman and censor.
Tamilnet.com, a pro-rebel web site, quoted a journalist at the paper as saying that the soldiers "locked up the building, cut phone lines and took the keys away" on Friday.
Rubasinghe declined to give details, saying he has to check on the exact circumstances that led to the closure.
The government censors all news about the 17-year ethnic war since it escalated last month. It has powers to ban publication of newspapers, prohibit demonstrations and strikes and seize any property under the Public Security Ordinance invoked earlier this month.
Newspapers regularly carry large chunks of white space with a "censored" stamp on sentences and paragraphs removed by the censor.
A few days ago, the army reprimanded the newspaper editor for publishing names of civilians who were reportedly killed when air force planes bombed rebel positions in the north.
Government has cut telephone lines to war-torn Jaffna since the battle escalated last month.
The guerrillas have seized several key areas in Jaffna province, home to millions of minority Tamils, in their fight for a separate homeland in the north and the east.
Nearly 40,000 soldiers are guarding Jaffna city from falling into the hands of the rebels, who have advanced up to the outskirts of their former capital.
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