The panel of judges should be removed from the case against five Sri Lankan men, Dutch lawyer Victor Koppe demanded on Monday. The five are accused of supporting the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), listed since 2006 by the European Union as a terrorist organisation.
Dutch prosecutors have asked for jail sentences between 10 to 16 years against the men for allegedly aiding the rebel movement from the Netherlands, including collecting funds.
But Koppe told the special War Crimes Chamber at The Hague District Court that the trial process was unfair. He said the three judges should step down as they did not guarantee more time for his defence statement. Koppe said it seemed the court was “blatantly ignoring” his defence.
If the judges are ordered to step down by an independent appeals panel, the trial which started last month must begin again with new judges.
Arrested last year as part of a probe in the Netherlands into the activities of the LTTE, the five men have lived in the country for a long time and have Dutch nationality.
But their possible convictions, due later this month, are just the tip of the iceberg - in a case which will be interpreted in Sri Lanka as a decision on who is right and wrong in the country’s 30-year civil war.
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vijith arunasiri bandulahewa
9 October 2011 - 10:36pm / srilanka
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as we know India divided by the British in 1947. as well as they wanted to divide the Srilanka. they firstly ( up to 1995 chief of the Srilanka government intelligence was British officer (MI6) and most of other officers are Catholics which hate the Buddhist and the country) create a clash between Sinhalese and Tamils in July 1983,after that Tamils got the sympathy of the entire world,as well as Tamil youth formed the several armed groups like EROS,PLOT.. etc against the government. after destroying the every Tamil guerrilla organisations other than LTTE and continue war about 30 years the reason for this was govt intelligence give each and every support to the LTTE not to the srilankan forces.as well as each and every bomb blast and killings done by the LTTE with the help of government intelligence service. after come in to the power (bodujaya sena party) we claim the cost of the war (2300 billion rupees, the government estimate)and cost of the damage to the economy of the country and people of the forces as well as north and east Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims from the BRITISH GOVERNMENT.
Vijith Arunasiri Bandulahewa,leader and secretary of the bodujaya sena party www.sinhalayani.com
Srilanka is the worst proved state terrorim on the earth. Please Netherlands add Srilanka in your terrorist list, not LTTE.
If it is in Sri Lanka they would have hung the accused and their council and call it a humanitarian operation. It is time we put Sri Lanka under UN until it becomes civilized. We cant afford to have another rouge state in that region which kills its own people and jails its own military commander because he threatened to tell the truth.
"Lie Lanka Mathaa
Upe Lie Lanka
Namo Namo Lie Lanka"
Keep the LIEon flag flying high guys.
And so what is this fools defense? They supplied funds for Tamil food, infrastructure development, Tamil-Sinhalese-Muslim community projects, schools, flower gardens for the enjoyment of the public in Sri Lanka? give us a break.
You claim yourself as a doctor??? such a shame..dont you take some sort of oath to safe guard the innocent lifes?? guess u dont have any morale to even think about the innocent lives died...your only problem to have money in your bank account and your kith and kin is Sl is to live happily ever after
The 5 accused and their devfence lawyer all need to be locked up for 20 years.
I second that!!! All are criminals of one breed or another. Defense lawyers for terrorists, are in a sense, terrorist supporters. If they get them off charges, they are aiding and abetting terrorism to rise up another day!
Victor Koppe really has gone native (LTTE). He doesn't relish the probability of losing his case and the LTTE suspects going to well-deserved spell in jail, so just like the LTTE would have done during its miserable existence, he wants the court dissolved and new judges chosen until he gets the verdict he wants. A more perfect demonstration of "Eelamish Thinking" is hard to find. :)
Very few people in Sri Lanka worry validation of its success against the LTTE by the Western judiciary. Those that do are still living in a colonial dreamland.
The accused 5 + the defence lawyer all need to be locked up for 20 years.
The accused 5 + the defence lawyer all need to be locked up for 20 years.
"Justice should not only be done but apear to be done" is a well known legal priciple. But the legal points raised by the defence are unclear in this short note. As to who is right and who is wrong should be left to a hearing by the ICC or International UN Tribunal under international law, not Dutch law which may be more restrictive.
This is good lessons for Dutch people.Even the judges in netherland cannot take their decisions against terrorists. EU,Canada,UK or Australia are LTTE sympathizers and help the LTTE do their activities in their countries freely.And take the dangerous terrorists into their countries as refugees to intimidate Sri Lanka government.But, they did not understand the mistake they have done so far.They did know they invited the people with terrorist mentality that can cause havoc by organizing internally as groups.So, this is the beginning of the misery for these countries and will see the more tamil terrorist drama.
before talking about politics,please go back to school and study basic history and political science and then write about this type of legal and political issues.State terrorism and sinhalese barbaric activities since 1958
created LTTE terrorism.Do not blame LTTE terrorism alone blame the state terrorism as well.That is the main reason the UN panel report asking to appoint an international enquiry of both sides war crimes.If the Sri Lanka
is not guilty they can easily go to an independent inernational enquiry and
prove their innocence.
We should all disregard this person's comments. He is no doubt a brainwashed, a pro-LTTE diaspora who probably have never set foot on Sri Lankan territory, or he/she is getting too much of a good deal off the honorable Dutch government to want to go back (economic refugee).
More like we should ignore your comments. Anyone supports or upheld the human rights counted as LTTE or LTTE supports in the eyes of people like you. Why not the SL govt let the UN to go in and do the Internation Independant Investion if SL govt got nothing to worry and they are little angel as people like u say?? What sort of crap are u talking? We are dispora because of SL govt's state terrism... and u r saying never set a foot on sl territory...u dont know what u r talking about r u? lol... Go and read the meaning of Dispora in the Oxford dictornay...haha..Guess people like u swinding the great western system by sitting doing nothing and eating on govt handouts.
These people are making a mockery of the Dutch Justice system now. I suppose they are more familiar with the Kangaroo Courts the LTTE used to operate during their reign of terror for almost three decades.
Sri Lankan court is worse than the Kangaroo court!!! Everyone knows that. How many murders are solved in Sri lanka?
Enlighten us if you know everything. BTW, when were you last in Sri Lanka to have all this information?
No of us said anything about knowing everything... go and find out the ground reality... be honest to ur self..try to take the Sinhala only hat off for the starters... If the SL president is genuine he would have resolved the problem withing the last 3yrs atleast.. Rajapaksha is WAR CRIMINAL and he needs be punished accordingly to the Interantional Law.
Yesterday
I saw greeze man. Men demanding bribe. Prisoners without charges. Army commander in Jail. Parliament looked like a market. People confused. Mervin the great. Gotha the president . What else you need the Jokers Paradise. Only one joker missing. Hope it is you. Keep lying it is the Lankan culture we cant let it go.
Lie Lanka Matha
Keep the LIEon flag flying high
To think that Sri Lankans are dependent on this case to interpret "as a decision on who is right and wrong in the country’s 30 year civil war", is pretty flawed statement. Do you not think citizens of Sri Lanka already know who is right or wrong?
You are misinterpreting the statement made. The claim being made is that Sri-Lankans would interpret the outcome of this trial as a decision _by the west_ as to who is right and who is wrong.
Moreover, to your question as to if the citizens of Sri-Lanka know who is right and who is wrong - the answer who would be NO, as the recent election results show that those in the North-East(the tamils) and those in the South(the Sinhalese) both have different views as to who is right and who is wrong.
Raja, would Sri Lankans misinterpret court judgement as a decision by west? Isnt it obvious that judgement of a European coutis means a decision also become a decision by west. Its painful, isnt it? For the first time a European court is to convict terrorists and activities within EU. The lawyer Victor Koppe wants panel judges to step down as "court was “blatantly ignoring” his defence" just like Human Rights Watch (HRW) wants judges at Khmer Rouge court to resign http://www.rnw.nl/international-justice/article/hrw-judges-khmer-rouge-c... .
So is it difficult to understand where do pro-terrorists like you, Victor Koppe and HRW stand?
The most difficult decision for anyone to make is NOT choosing right from wrong BUT choosing right from right! In Sri Lanka both Tamils an Sinhalese have chosen (most)right from (less)right. They live happily and peacefully after that decision (to defeat LTTE regardless of HR threats)was taken. See how a succesful world leader addressess the United Nations after defeating the most ruthless terrorist group,LTTE. He dared to choose right from right when superpowers like USA, EU claimed LTTE was unbeatable. When they were proved as cowards, they try to stab Sri Lanka behind back by bringing resolutions against Sri Lanka, calling for warcrime investigations despite repeated failures at UNHRC. President Mahinda Rajapaksa as southern Sinhalese in Sri Lanka said at UNGA.
"Turning to international terrorism, he said the scourge posed a threat, from which not even the wealthiest and most powerful of nations were immune, noting that terrorist groups frequently operated under the guise of front organizations. In the United Nations, an organization comprised of 193 countries, subscribing to a range of social, economic and political philosophies, procedure and process were critically important to ensure good governance and prevent intergovernmental organizations from being abused for narrow domestic political advantage and selective application of principle. The rule-based framework of the United Nations system, valued by all nations, must be safeguarded for the protection of all against such abuse. He said the scourge posed a threat, from which not even the wealthiest and most powerful of nations were immune, noting that terrorist groups frequently operated under the guise of front organizations. Conferring legitimacy on them had the inevitable effect of providing comfort and encouragement to what he termed "the merchants of terror". As the leader of a nation that had paid a heavy price due to terrorism over a quarter of a century, he underlined his firm resolve to rid the world of terrorism, stressing the need for practical action on the ground that would send a collective message on the matter, loud and clear universally." Watch, listen and read: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-1f8tk28WY
Isnt he right Raja? That is the only truth and only right. That is the dilemma that today's world leader have to face. We as Sri Lankans are proud to have a leader who is a southern Sinhalese and who can make a right choice in a dilemma when western leaders didn't dare. That is the calibre of leadership the world wants today.
On Elections see Election Results 2010 in North of Sri Lanka. http://www.slelections.gov.lk/presidential2010/04.html
NoEalamInSL
Please visit http://www.youtube.com/NoEalamInSL
Err... so who exactly was "right" or "wrong" about what? The crushing of the LTTE, with the terrible civilian casualties?
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