Tamil Tigers sneak through Schagen (part 2)

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Tamil Tigers sneak through Schagen (part 2)

24 May 2011

The Dutch judiciary says that Tamil Tiger leaders in the Netherlands have played a prominent role in financing the civil war in Sri Lanka. The 10,000 Tamils in the Netherlands, police say, were under the iron grip of the guerilla group.

Marcel Haenen

‘Operation Koninck’ has been described by the judiciary as very complex and elaborate. Some 90 witnesses have been heard, dozens of house searches have been conducted, and numerous documents, photos, computers, CDs and DVDs have been obtained. Detectives from the Crime Investigation Department have gathered some 120 files on the case with a wren branded on them (wren in Dutch is winterkoning, the basis for the name of the operation). The judiciary now has large quantities of propaganda material such as films, books and calendars honouring Tamils who have gone on suicide missions. The digital material is particularly plentiful with the Dutch authorities possessing some 6,000 gigabytes worth of information.

More material is expected to be obtained in the following weeks. At the request of the Netherlands, Norway will be carrying out house searches at the home of a Tamil with the code name Nediyavan. According to officials, he is one of the LTTE’s new leaders. On Wednesday a Dutch investigative team, along with lawyers of the suspects in the Netherlands, will travel to Oslo to interrogate Nediyavan.

The Dutch magistrates and lawyers are also to travel to the US to interrogate, among others, Pratheepan T. This man has settled a plea bargain deal with the US authorities by admitting that he has purchased weapons for the Tigers. Information from Pratheepan T’s computer apparently revealed that Ramachandran from the Netherlands had cooperated with Pratheepan in the weapon purchases.

Next month, the Dutch plan to interrogate 13 witnesses in Sri Lanka. The Dutch authorities are currently negotiating with Sri Lankan Attorney General Mohan Peiris to get permission to speak with former and current LTTE people. The Dutch also aim to interrogate Kumaran Pathmanabhan, or KP, who is a detained former LTTE leader.

Fight for freedom

The lawyers for the two main suspects - Victor Koppe for Srirangam and Hester Seton for Ramachandran – assert that the Dutch judiciary has been very one-sided in its LTTE investigation. The public prosecution’s office, Koppe says, is insufficiently aware of the political dimensions in the criminal investigation into the Tamils in the Netherlands. In Sri Lanka, Koppe explains, people speak of a fight for freedom of the Tamils against the Sri Lankan state. He accuses the Dutch judiciary of reducing this complex political situation to a plain, simplistic terrorism problem, which undermines the inferior position of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Koppe further stresses that the struggle towards an independent Tamil Eelam is a political conviction which is guaranteed as a fundamental right, and thus could not be a basis for criminal proceedings. The Netherlands, he says, does not recognise the superior right of the victor. Thus, the lawyer says that it would also be wrong to cooperate with the Sri Lankan authorities in the investigation. He pointed out that the Sri Lankan government has a very poor record in upholding human rights.

Sceptics

Koppe, at the request of the LTTE, filed an appeal last month at the Court of Justice of the European Communities in Luxembourg to counter the decision by the EU to place the LTTE on the list of terrorist organisations. This decision has frustrated the Tamils’ right for self determination. In turn, the petition is one more proof for the Dutch judiciary of the continued existence of the Tamil Tigers. The request at the European Court formally comes from the LTTE’s European political subdivision, which claims that it uses only non-violent means. This claim, however, has been met with a great deal of skepticism given the group’s extremely violent history.

Koppe compares the assessment on the situation in Sri Lanka to those in Egypt and Libya. It is fascinating, he says, that Libyan groups which fight against their state get immediate political, military and emotional support. Koppe questions why the Tamils do not get the same kind of support. Why, he continues, does the Tamil question only come under the limelight when it has to do with criminal proceedings against the Tamil Tigers?

Tsunami victims

Hester Seton, Ramachandran’s lawyer, finds it objectionable that the judiciary assumes that all the money gathered by the Tamils was meant for armed struggle. Seton points out that Tamils have also gathered funds for tsunami victims or the rebuilding of schools.

The lawyers accuse the judiciary of criminalising all Dutch Tamils. Municipalities are already informed about the activities of the Tamils even before any criminal court case has officially started. That, to put it mildly, is premature, Seton says. Municipalities have been informed by the police about the investigation, and have been warned about giving permission for Tamil gatherings since these occasions are supposedly often used to hold LTTE fundraisers.

Administrative documents reveal that ‘support money’ has been received from municipalities, the police say, fearing that LTTE dummy organisations may have received municipal subsidies.

Detectives also say that there is a network of 21 Tamil schools in the Netherlands where the armed Tamil struggle is glorified.

‘Operation Koninck’ has sent shockwaves in the Dutch Tamil community. Some 600 Tamil families in February received a letter, personally written by investigative team leader Gert van Doorn. Your name has been found on one or more lists as a contributor to Tamil organisations, the letter says. Van Doorn explains that these are dummy organisations for the LTTE. Deliberate contribution towards such organisations could lead to investigation and criminal proceedings, the police officer warns.

Only a few Tamil gatherings have taken place in the past months. The websites of Tamil organisations in the Netherlands have been taken off the air. On the annual Tamil heroes’ celebration of Maveerar Naal, held on November 27th in Almere, there were hardly any remarks from the LTTE, detectives ascertained. In the past, this celebration was a markedly Tiger occasion.

It has been problematic for the police to gather witness testimonies amongst the Tamil community. Witnesses continue to be scared to give testimonies, or go back to the police and revoke previous statements, the judiciary said earlier this year. The NRC daily also did not succeed in speaking to Tamils. Seton believes that the Tamil community’s fear and suspicion towards the media is too great right now. She further says that Tamils are also limiting contact amongst each other. Tamils in the Netherlands are even afraid to make normal phone calls, worried that their conversation would be tapped.

Tamil Tigers sneak through Schagen (part 2) | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

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Govt. permits Dutch authorities to question KP, others

THURSDAY, 26 MAY 2011 01:01

By Susitha R. Fernando

The Sri Lankan government had allowed the Dutch authorities investigating the financial network of the LTTE in the Netherlands to interview former and current LTTE leaders in Sri Lankan government custody including former LTTE arms procurer, Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP.

A senior officer from the Attorney General’s Department confirmed that the Sri Lankan government had allowed the Investigating Judge from the Netherlands to interview witnesses who are willing to speak on the LTTE activities.

“The Sri Lankan government has given them permission to interview witnesses who volunteer to give evidence,” the officer said. “However the government cannot compel them to give evidence, only those who volunteer can be questioned by the Dutch authorities,” he said.

Earlier Dutch Media said that authorities from the Netherlands were negotiating with Sri Lankan Attorney General Mohan Peiris for permission to interrogate 13 witnesses in Sri Lanka including former and current LTTE leaders. When inquired whether KP would be allowed to answer questions, the AG’s Department officer said that he was unaware about who were being interviewed. However, he admitted that the government had not objected to anyone being interviewed as long as they do so voluntarily.

According to the report, in addition to Sri Lanka the Dutch magistrates and lawyers were also to travel to the United States to interrogate several US-based witnesses relating to the LTTE activities in the Netherlands. In the US, the Dutch investigators plan to interrogate an LTTE leader named Pratheepan Thavaraja, who has struck a plea bargain agreement with the US authorities admitting he has purchased weapons for the LTTE. According to an FBI report Pratheepan Thavaraja was a senior procurement agent for the LTTE involved in the purchase of improvised explosive devices, missiles, machine guns, artillery, radar, and other equipment and technology from countries around the world, including the US.

Pratheepan's laptop computer had a list of "priority items' to be purchased for the LTTE which was said to be worth $ 20 million. The list, according to the FBI, included, among other things, six "25mm Anti-Aircraft Gun[s]" at $160,000 each, six "30 mm Twin Barrel Mounted Naval Gun[s] Type 69 (with base)" at $30,000 each, thousands of automatic rifles, millions of rounds of ammunition, grenade launchers, 50 tons of C4 explosive, five tons of "Phlegmatized RDX" explosive, 50 tons of "TNT - based on Chinese specifications," and 50 tons of Tritonal explosive.

The Dutch investigators had said Pratheepan's computer had revealed that a man named Ramachandran from the Netherlands had cooperated with Pratheepan in the weapon purchases. Meanwhile a Dutch investigative team, along with lawyers of the suspects in the Netherlands was also to travel to Oslo to interrogate Nediyavan, the Oslo-based LTTE leader who was arrested by the Norwegian authorities. The Dutch investigators believe he had contributed millions to the LTTE.

The Dutch authorities have launched a complex and elaborate investigation called 'Operation Koninck' to uncover the prominent role LTTE leaders in the Netherlands played in financing the civil war in Sri Lanka. According to the Dutch media reports some 90 witnesses have been heard, dozens of house searches have been conducted, and numerous documents, photos, computers, CDs and DVDs have been obtained during their search.Contd. from A1

permission to interrogate 13 witnesses in Sri Lanka including former and current LTTE leaders. When inquired whether KP would be allowed to answer questions, the AG’s Department officer said that he was unaware about who were being interviewed. However, he admitted that the government had not objected to anyone being interviewed as long as they do so voluntarily.

According to the report, in addition to Sri Lanka the Dutch magistrates and lawyers were also to travel to the United States to interrogate several US-based witnesses relating to the LTTE activities in the Netherlands. In the US, the Dutch investigators plan to interrogate an LTTE leader named Pratheepan Thavaraja, who has struck a plea bargain agreement with the US authorities admitting he has purchased weapons for the LTTE.

According to an FBI report Pratheepan Thavaraja was a senior procurement agent for the LTTE involved in the purchase of improvised explosive devices, missiles, machine guns, artillery, radar, and other equipment and technology from countries around the world, including the US.

Pratheepan's laptop computer had a list of "priority items' to be purchased for the LTTE which was said to be worth $ 20 million. The list, according to the FBI, included, among other things, six "25mm Anti-Aircraft Gun[s]" at $160,000 each, six "30 mm Twin Barrel Mounted Naval Gun[s] Type 69 (with base)" at $30,000 each, thousands of automatic rifles, millions of rounds of ammunition, grenade launchers, 50 tons of C4 explosive, five tons of "Phlegmatized RDX" explosive, 50 tons of "TNT - based on Chinese specifications," and 50 tons of Tritonal explosive.

The Dutch investigators had said Pratheepan's computer had revealed that a man named Ramachandran from the Netherlands had cooperated with Pratheepan in the weapon purchases. Meanwhile a Dutch investigative team, along with lawyers of the suspects in the Netherlands was also to travel to Oslo to interrogate Nediyavan, the Oslo-based LTTE leader who was arrested by the Norwegian authorities. The Dutch investigators believe he had contributed millions to the LTTE.

The Dutch authorities have launched a complex and elaborate investigation called 'Operation Koninck' to uncover the prominent role LTTE leaders in the Netherlands played in financing the civil war in Sri Lanka. According to the Dutch media reports some 90 witnesses have been heard, dozens of house searches have been conducted, and numerous documents, photos, computers, CDs and DVDs have been obtained during their search.

Govt. permits Dutch authorities to question KP, others | Front Page