Lankan scribe asked to appear in court to identify abductors

A former Sri Lankan journalist, who was allegedly abducted and assaulted in 2008 during the war against the LTTE, was today asked to appear in court next month to identify the suspects, including an army Major, arrested over his abduction.

Keith Noyahr was an associate editor of the English language weekly The Nation when he was abducted in May 2008.

He was severely beaten before being released. After the attack, he fled to Australia with his family fearing for his life.

The suburban Mount Lavinia Additional Magistrate today instructed the police's Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to ask Noyahr to appear for an identification parade on March 3.

Last week, an Army Major and four soldiers were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the abduction of Noyahr in May 2008.

The role of military men was suspected as Noyahr had criticised military leaders in his writings as the defence correspondent of the daily.

The abduction in 2008 came shortly after Sri Lanka's bid to be elected to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva failed.

The attack on him was one of the many high profile attacks against journalists during the regime of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Sri Lanka was ranked among one of the worst countries to work during Rajpaksa's regime.

Rajapaksa successor Maithripala Sirisena pledged to revive all investigations on attacks on media personnel which had been stifled under the former President's rule.

The investigations include the assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunga, a high-profile Sri Lankan journalist who was critical of Rajpaksa's regime.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)