British-based man jailed for supplying Tamil Tigers

by lalith | June 12, 2009 at 10:14 am

170 views | 15 Recommendations | 9 comments

Press Association

guardian.co.uk, Friday 12 June 2009 16.39 BST

Article history

A British-based Tamil who illegally supplied electrical equipment and documents to insurgents in Sri Lanka was jailed for two years today.

Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar, 52, coordinated the supply of materials for the Tamil Tigers between 2003 and 2006.

Jonathan Laidlaw QC, for the prosecution, said the defendant procured equipment for the group with an "obvious terrorist purpose".

Mr Justice Saunders said: "This was a protracted, deliberate breaking of a law. These are very serious offences which warrant substantial sentences.

"The terrorist law has to be obeyed as part of our obligations internationally."

But the judge decided the case was "exceptional" as, at the time the offences were carried out, the Tamil Tigers were not banned in Sri Lanka and peace negotiations were taking place.

He paid tribute to the defendant's "humanitarian" work, which he said he hoped would continue once he had completed his sentence.

The judge told the Old Bailey: "He is a thoroughly decent man who deliberately broke the law in support of a cause he fervently believed in."

Although the headline is sort of misleading, the Tamil man, an obvious Terrorist supporter, may be a British citizen.

This is another man who was heavily involved in 'humanitarian' work but was also working on supplying war material to the Terrorist Tigers. Funnily, Chrishanthakumar's operation seems like a miniature form of what the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) was doing.

It was only a few days ago that four US based Tamils plead guilty to arms procurement charges. This is a very good sign and more arrests and jail terms are on the way to those terrorist supporters who indulged themselves in this type of work.

Although Tamil, we must keep in mind that all the above mentioned are Terrorists and all Tamils cannot be put into this category. A very high majority of Tamils are peace loving and would not want any association with the LTTE terrorists.

The arms procurers for the LTTE will be arrested soon as the intelligence agencies of most countries are on their trails. It seems that the free days of K. Pathmanathan the supremo gun runner for the LTTE are numbered.

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chinna chrippu (not verified)

at 11:12 on June 12th, 2009

"This was a protracted, deliberate breaking of a law. These are very serious offences which warrant substantial sentences."

Just a two-year jail term?... Is that what is called a substantial sentence?... For a terrorist who procured equipment for the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world with an "obvious terrorist purpose"? Funny!!!

Hmm...humanitarian work?!! Really?

A humanitarian terrorist...a strange oxymoron!

Babel-Fish

at 18:05 on June 12th, 2009

"But the judge decided the case was "exceptional" as, at the time the offences were carried out, the Tamil Tigers were not banned in Sri Lanka and peace negotiations were taking place."

He was supplying electrical equipment not weapons.

Lets have some balance here, the Sri Lankan government is communistic in its nature and we can see now its just as brutal as the terrorist and it is anti-Tamil in many of its policies.

israeli.agent

at 19:06 on June 12th, 2009

Just for the sake of balance we need not make any statements. It would be fun to "imagine" another "decent feverish believer" supports and supplies electrical equipments to Abu Sayyaf group and then they in turn use them for the continuation of current "humanitarian operations" they are indulged in.

How an elected government like that of Philippines will react to that?

.Agent.

lalith

at 18:46 on June 12th, 2009

Suicide Bombings, Booby Trapping, Remote controlling of claymore mines etc were carried out by the LTTE, much before it was banned by many countries.

Detonators for suicide bombers jackets are also classified as electrical items. We know how many people were killed, including Rajiv Gandhi, by suicide bombers.

This man would not have been found guilty if he has procured light bulbs, table fans etc.

So,................

Hiranya Malwatta

at 14:00 on June 13th, 2009

Lalith,

I think we are wasting our time here in NowPublic. Who are we trying to educate? These self proclaimed experts on Sri Lanka and the War that just ended? These people who believe every lie the LTTE Diaspora puts forward? Little do they know they have very nicely been caught in the LTTE web. Great.

I think I really had enough of these attitudes and opinions against Sri Lanka - just opinions, no facts !

lalith

at 19:05 on June 13th, 2009

I agree with you Hiranya.

Most of the commenters on Sri Lanka are expatriates who depend heavily on LTTE propaganda sites to report.

I really enjoy seeing these people operating on NP. Churning out numbers, writing as if they are standing on the spot where a news report is made or writing of stuff like religion without knowing what the hell it is.

I am in a better position to report than all these guys because I am in the middle of things here in SL. I know I'm wasting my time replying to KTTEs on NP. But then, who is going to provide me with my daily entertainment?

lalith

at 01:22 on June 13th, 2009

Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, for the prosecution, told the court that Chrishanthakumar, 52, was effectively head of the LTTE in London. “He was coordinator of the procurement exercise. He was in contact with senior LTTE figures in Sri Lanka, receiving orders and requests, and on occasions buying equipment himself,” he added.

In 2004 Special Branch officers discovered that Chrishanthakumar had bought items including handcuffs and boots for the Tamil Tigers’ police force from an army surplus shop in Southsea, Hampshire. He was not arrested but agreed to stop buying such items, the court heard.

However, it was alleged that he was later ordered by the LTTE leadership in Sri Lanka to buy laptop computers, printed circuit boards, remote control equipment and satellite equipment.

Mr Laidlaw said: “Certain of the electrical components are of a sort which are used by the LTTE in improvised explosive devices, the bombs which were targeted at government forces.” Chrishanthakumar also bought small, high-powered magnets of the sort that have been used to attach limpet mines to Sri Lankan naval vessels, he said.

The Tamil Tigers first used a remotely controlled explosive device in December 2005. In the next 12 months they successfully used 70 such devices against government forces and politicians.

CeeGee

at 02:05 on June 13th, 2009

The judge told the Old Bailey: "He is a thoroughly decent man who deliberately broke the law in support of a cause he fervently believed in."

Hmmm, a decent man engaged in indecent activities!

Are all other terrorists, like the ones involved in advocating and planning 9/11, thoroughly decent men engaged in work they fervently believed in.?

Hiranya Malwatta

at 14:09 on June 13th, 2009

"thoroughly decent men engaged in work they fervently believed in."

They must have been. Would be lovely to see how the West would react if a little Asian country like Sri Lanka started to nurture and breed "thoroughly decent" Al Qaeda men engaged in work they fervently believe in.