Lanka closely monitoring LTTE court case in EU

By Manjula FERNANDO

A petition filed by a so-called European wing of the LTTE in April, seeking the removal of the LTTE from the European Union (EU) list of banned terrorist organisations was allowed to proceed by the European Court of Justice a week ago.

The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice informed Bohler Group lawyer Victor Koppe that the Court has taken up the case ‘Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) vs Council of the European Union’ bearing No T-208/11-9 for hearing.

Sri Lanka, although not ‘perturbed’ over this development, as per a statement issued by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, is closely monitoring the evolving case.

The LTTE may have been eliminated from the shores of Sri Lanka, but its long and gluey tentacles have spread north and south of the globe. The Court case proved clearly that the LTTE is not actually dead, but is quite alive and is continuing its separatist mission against Sri Lanka.

Koppe of the Amsterdam-based law firm, Bohler Advocaten together with his colleagues Marieke van Eik, Tamara Buruma and Marina den Houdijker requested the European Court of Justice to annul Council Implementing a particular regulation based on ‘Council Common Position on Terrorism’, that re-designated the LTTE on the EU terrorism list from January 2011.

The attorney appearing for the LTTE argued, “The LTTE no longer uses military means to achieve its goals, and in post-Mulivaaykkaal context, uses political and non-violent methods to achieve the movement’s goals of obtaining Tamil justice and exercising the right to self-determination of the Tamil people.”

Pro-LTTE media reported that the European Court of Justice, by deciding to hear the case, has accepted that the European branches of the LTTE are sufficiently autonomous in their functioning to grant power-of-attorney to Koppe to represent the LTTE, allegedly quoting legal sources.

Koppe has not revealed the personalities behind the European wing of the LTTE. When questioned, he said “At this point of time, I do not wish to say who have given me the power of attorney on behalf of the LTTE,’ adding that he was fully satisfied to represent the LTTE in the EU Court of Justice.”

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson, however, told the Sunday Observer that this was the first time that they have heard of an EU wing of the LTTE although the LTTE presence in the region was fairly strong.

Bohler Advocaten, is one of the most expensive law firms in Europe and it is reported that they have successfully argued a case on behalf of the Kurdish PKK earlier and obtained an order to get the EU ban lifted.

Following the decision to hear the LTTE case against the Council of the European Union, the Court is expected to invite the Member States of the EU and the Council to present their argument for extending the ban on the LTTE.

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said although the groups that are listed by the EU are given space to challenge the decision to re-designate them every year, the LTTE did not come forth to do so during the time permitted. Instead, they filed a case and hired lawyers to argue their case in the European Court of Justice.

Disturbing development

Contacted by the Sunday Observer on the disturbing developments in the EU, the Sri Lankan Ambassador in Brussels Ravinatha Aryasinha said, “It is not appropriate for me to comment on a case before the European Court of Justice”, adding that all he could say was that the Mission was closely monitoring developments, echoing a sentiment expressed by a senior official at the Foreign Ministry which appeared in the Sunday Observer last week.

The Ambassador, when inquired about the people behind the move, said, “A noteworthy point, is that according to Dutch media NRC Handelsblad, the lawyer appearing for the LTTE in this case, Victor Koppe, is the same lawyer appearing for one of the main suspects(Mr. Srirangam) in the ongoing prosecution in the Netherlands for LTTE involvement.

“Those including the LTTE’s current leader, the Norway-based Perinpanayagam Sivaparan, known as Nediyavan, has already been questioned as part of this investigation.”

He said it was clear that the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora elements were continuing to advocate ‘mono-ethnic separatism’ in Sri Lanka through ‘peaceful means’, while espousing the ideology of the LTTE, using the LTTE’s black money. It is apparent that these actions are being manipulated by the LTTE’s surviving military leaders.

Death of Prabhakaran

Despite the LTTE’s claim that its terrorist activities have ceased following the death of Prabhakaran in Vellamullivaikkal during the last leg of the humanitarian operation, 32 LTTE activists have been arrested, in counter-terror operations in Europe while an additional 21 have been convicted over the last two years.

The Europol’s EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT 2011) states that in 2010, 27 individuals were arrested for terrorist offences linked to the financing of the LTTE in France, Germany and the Netherlands.

It has also mentioned that the LTTE has been engaged in organised crimes such as the facilitation of illegal immigration, credit card skimming, money laundering, and fraud for the purpose of funding terrorist operations.

The report further says the LTTE also collects money from their members, using labels like ‘donations’ and ‘membership fees’, but are in fact extortion and illegal taxation.

The situation report states that the LTTE is actively involved in money laundering, illicit drugs and human trafficking, as well as illegal immigration inside and outside the EU, and highlights that the LTTE uses international propaganda channels and their own media (TV and radio stations) to spread their ideology.

Asked if Sri Lanka foresees the case before the EU Court a challenge to its ongoing fight against the LTTE international network, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said they could not question the right of the European Court of Justice to hear the case. On the contrary, he said, the case will be an opportunity to expose the LTTE’s criminal operations overseas.

European Court of Justice

The European Court of Justice was set up under the ECSC Treaty in 1952. It is based in Luxembourg.

The Court is composed of one judge per Member State, so that all 25 of the EU’s national legal systems are represented. The Court is assisted by eight advocates-general whose role is to present reasoned opinions on the cases brought before the Court.

They must do so publicly and impartially. The Court may meet in plenary session, or create chambers of three or five judges. Only a single judgement is delivered in each case, signed by all judges, without any dissenting opinions.

Hence, all decisions are both unanimous and anonymous, preventing any attempt to attribute the result to the nationality of the judges deciding the case.

The Court of Justice interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all EU countries, so that the law is equal for everyone. Individuals, companies or organisations can also bring cases before the Court if they feel their rights have been infringed by an EU institution. A judge and an advocate general are assigned to each case that comes before the Court.

Cases submitted to the court are processed in two stages: a written stage and oral stage.