Trial of accused LTTE supporters to end today
The trial of five Dutch-Sri Lankan Tamils, accused of raising funds
for the separatist LTTE, is expected to end in The Hague today. If the
men are found guilty as charged of overseeing an international criminal
and terrorist organisation involved in arson, bombings and murder, they
will face sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
The prosecution maintains the men organised a climate of fear,
brainwashing and coercing young Tamils into supporting a murderous group
in Sri Lanka. The defence says they were nothing short of freedom
fighters; heroes working in the cause of an oppressed minority
struggling under the shackles of a brutal and genocidal government,
Radio Netherlands reported.
The six week case has sparked minimal interest in the Netherlands,
which has used its laws of universal jurisdiction to prosecute
international crimes. This happens only once or twice a year in the
country’s specialist war crimes chamber. The ‘Tamil 5’ represents a rare
case of an international prosecution in The Hague taking place in a
Dutch court.
By contrast, awaiting today’s decision with bated breath will be the
Netherlands’ Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora (9000-13,000 people). How many of
them were coerced into donating 2000 euros per year to the LTTE, as the
prosecution maintains happened to each family, is difficult to know -
few were willing to give testimony. Unsurprisingly, equally few were
prepared to talk to the media - those who have spoken claim to fear the
Dutch Police, who earlier this year sent letters to all Tamils living in
the Netherlands informing them of their investigation, and warning they
were under scrutiny.
Prosecutors have taken a more honed perspective, focusing on the
documents and testimony relating to the individual behaviour of the men
on trial.
They maintain, for example, that there are or have been, 20
classrooms across the Netherlands educating Tamil children. These
classes, were used to “brainwash (children) with the violent ideology of
the LTTE,” where they “make pictures of bombs and grenades,” said
Prosecutor Ward Ferdinandusse.
The men ran organisations like the Tamil Youth Organisation and the
Dutch Tamil Arts and Culture Organisation, which seek municipal
subsidies. This is money that, according to the prosecutors, has been
used to lubricate the war machine. Courtesy PRIU,gov.lk |
