Tamil radio presenter and director of privately-owned radio Vettri FM, ARV Loshan, has been released by Sri Lanka's Terrorist Investigations Department after being held for eight days.
His mother told Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) he was not hurt during his imprisonment. The police have for the time being held on to his mobile phones but they will supposedly be returned to him in the next few days.
Loshan, who was arrested at his home in the capital Colombo on November 14, was released on November 22, according to RSF.
The organisation had said earlier that TID allegations against Loshan of having "links with terrorists" and "aiding terrorist activities" should be based on evidence and not on simple conjecture. "The growing number of arrests by the authorities of Tamil journalists under the anti-terror law gives currency to the common rumor that many of them are Tamil Tiger agents, but also undermines the anti-terror law itself," it added.
RSF pointed out that two other Tamil journalists—JS Tissainayagam and Vettivel Jasikaran—are already being held under the anti-terror law. The fiancée of the latter, Valarmathi Jasikaran, has also been imprisoned in Colombo and kept under very harsh conditions.
