ALLEGED LTTE SUPPORTER ARRESTED
IN TORONTO IS TO BE CHARGED FOR RAISING MONEY FOR TERRORISTS IN VANCOUVER
By Walter Jayawardhana
Prapaharan Thambimuttu of Toronto Canada who was arrested last Friday
was scheduled to be charged before a court in Vancouver for raising
money for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the British
Columbia area among Tamils.
The Vancouver Sun newspaper said that this is the “first time in
Canadian history , a man has been charged for financing terrorists..”
Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Lloyde Plante said "He was
soliciting funding that was to be utilized to support the LTTE, that
was the allegation."
Thambimuttu also known as Prapa was charged for collecting money from
the 8000-6000 strong Sri Lankan Tamil community for collecting money
to support the LTTE in Sri Lanka.
The Vancouver Sun published the following story written by Lori Culbert
and Neal Hall, May 26:
“For the first time in Canadian history, a man here has been charged
with financing terrorists, for allegedly raising money for the Tamil
Tigers.
"The funds were allegedly raised for the LTTE (Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers) which is a listed terrorist organization
in Canada,'' said RCMP Supt. Lloyde Plante, of B.C.'s Integrated National
Security Enforcement Team (INSET).
Prapaharan (Prapa) Thambithurai, 45, who lives in Toronto but was arrested
last Friday in Vancouver, is charged with providing or making available
property or services for terrorist purposes.
“When asked to elaborate on the charge, Plante said: "He was
soliciting funding that was to be utilized to support the LTTE, that
was the allegation."
The Tamil Tigers are fighting a bloody independence campaign in Sri
Lanka. The Tigers were added to the list of banned terrorist organizations
in Canada in April 2006.
Police allege the funds were being collected from members of Vancouver's
6, 000- to 8,000-person Sri Lankan community.
“Plante referred to the people who made the donations as the "victims''
in the case, but wouldn't comment when asked if they knew the money
was going to support the Tigers.
The RCMP is asking anyone who has had contact with Thambithurai to phone
police.
The police investigation continues, but Plante wouldn't say whether
more suspects are being targeted.
“Plante, who is with INSET's anti-terrorist financial investigation
unit, said he could not elaborate further about the case because the
charge is now before the courts.
“Thambithurai was arrested Friday night and was remanded in custody.
He will make his first court appearance today in Vancouver Provincial
Court.
Plante wouldn't say how much money was raised or where it was sent.
Thambithurai, who is a Canadian citizen, may have been in Vancouver
as long ago as August 1996, because a man claiming to live in Vancouver
who had the same name as Thambithurai wrote a scathing letter to Maclean's
magazine then.
The letter said the RCMP and CSIS had "recruited some shady characters
living in the murky field of intelligence gathering and crime'' who
were "painting a picture of Sri Lankans living in this country
as guerrillas engaging in criminal activities.''
Plante said the charges announced Monday were "not specifically''
related to a police raid in 2005 at the Vancouver office of the World
Tamil Movement (WTM), a group the RCMP alleges is financing the Tigers.
Last September, the Vancouver Sun reported that there were three investigations
across Canada - in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal - to determine whether
the Tigers had been illegally raising funds here to help their independence
campaign.
The search warrant allowed police in Vancouver to search the WTM for
"invoices, bills and receipts, donation records, any correspondence
relating to fundraising, disbursement and direction provided to anyone
involved in the organization.''
At the time of the raid, INSET received intelligence that the WTM was
allegedly selling propaganda to finance the Tigers.
“Seven suspects were named in the information to obtain a search
warrant, which alleged the WTM misappropriated $75,000 in tsunami relief
donations to the rebel cause.
(Thambithurai was not one of the seven listed in the search warrant,
and Plante said there is no indication phoney tsunami relief donations
are part of the most recent allegations.)
"Front organizations were established for the purpose of raising
funds, coordinating community activities and administering the funds
that would later be forwarded to the LTTE,'' the warrant information
says. "In Canada, the WTM is an LTTE front organization."
“The search warrant said: "Members of the WTM sell merchandise
such as books, compact discs, flags, clothing, newspapers, pamphlets
and videos to raise funds. They are sold at community events as well
as selected business locations. The proceeds are then funnelled back
to the LTTE.''
In Toronto, police seized computer discs when they raided the WTM office
in April 2006, which showed the movement of money from Canada to bank
accounts in Sri Lanka.
The National Post reported in 2006 that the WTM acknowledged it supports
the independence aspirations of the Tigers, but says any donations it
collects are used solely for Tamil refugees, orphans and other humanitarian
needs.
The search warrant executed in Vancouver three years ago indicated an
RCMP officer said he interviewed four WTM leaders and met a dozen times
with a confidential informant who provided information about "the
LTTE's illegal smuggling of Tamils to Canada for financial gain.''
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