Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Head of LTTE in Britain faces terrorism charges

The head of an LTTE front organisation in Britain has been emotional for conspiring to supply military gear to the LTTE terrorists in Sri Lankan, Wednesday (Jan 28).
Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar, 52, a "very prominent figure" in the Tamil group of people in the UK, co-ordinated the gaining of material and money for the advantage of the LTTE, British news sources reported.
Arunachalan despite warnings conventional to put a stop to his activities, the defendant sustained to procure electrical device for the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers, some of which had "an clear terrorist purpose", news sources said citing adjudicators reports.
Chrishanthakumar, known as Shanthan, is standing trial at Kingston Crown Court, south-west London, where he denies one count of plot to receive electrical mechanism for the purposes of terrorism.
He is also charged with amassing a hoard of military gear including machetes, battle boots, disguise clothes, spades and handcuffs.
Another accuse supposed that he conventional terrorist documents counting guides to underwater warfare systems, volatile weapons disposal and mine permission.
He is also accused of two further offences - receiving money and belonging to a forbidden organisation, that is the LTTE.
The five offences are supposed to have taken place between January 2003 and June 2007.
Three other men, Jegatheswaran Muraleetharan (Muralee), 46, and his brother, Jeyatheswaran Vythyatharan (Vithy), 40, from Newtown, Powys, and Murugesu Jegatheeswaran (Jegan), 34, from Mitcham, south London, are charged with in receipt of electronic items for use in terrorism. Mr Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, told the jury that the defendants, all Tamils from the island of Sri Lanka, were faction of the LTTE, with Shanthan a fully-fledged associate of the group.
He said Shanthan, who has lived in the UK for many years, was "quite openly" a LTTE member and head of the United Tamil Organisation in this country, before it became a forbidden organisation, in 2001.
In 2004, the police became aware Shanthan was trade military clothing and gear for consignment to LTTE forces in Sri Lanka from an army extra store in Southsea, Hampshire, the court heard.
He was not under arrest but was told the authorities had "become aware" of this feature of his procurement action and he was told to cease .
But in July 2007, police carried out searches of Shanthan's home.
"What became clear was that his procurement activity had comprehensive far beyond the gear brought from the army surplus shop in Southsea and, in spite of the warning when the law enforcement became aware of that activity, he had continued with his support action on the LTTE's behalf," Mr Laidlaw said.
This built-in receiving money for funding purposes and the procurement of more armed gear and military manuals, it was supposed.
The court was told that the LTTE financed its activities through duty and association fees collected in the regions under its control. "There's also fundraising and some illegal business," Mr Laidlaw said.
He sustained that in December 2005, the LTTE deployed the first distantly forbidden improvised explosive device.
The prosecutor told the court the initial police study into Chrishanthakumar's activities uncovered proof of the procurement of electrical components including computers, printed circuit boards (PCBs), remote control equipment, mechanism linked with radio transmitting plans and also satellite equipment.
At the home of every of the defendants, the police also found proof of their LTTE sympathies, their loyalty to the LTTE and its nationalist reason, "no doubt as long as the incentive for their participation in these offences," he said.
The trial continues news sources additional reported.

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