The international organisation, Reporters Without Borders, has called for the release of a Tamil journalist detained in Sri Lanka for more than two months.

The organisation made the appeal in a letter to the Sri Lankan justice minister.

It said the Jaffna-based journalist, Subramaniam Thiruchelvam, was arrested in Colombo for his alleged links with Tamil Tiger rebels.

A human rights activist who visited him said Mr Thiruchelvam had been assaulted in custody, handcuffed to a chair and beaten with a pipe.

Police say Mr Thiruchelvam confessed his involvement with the Tigers, a charge his family denies.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service