Customs seize LTTE consignment of propaganda ‘stationery’
Customs officials have seized a consignment of LTTE propaganda material that had been declared as stationery, Customs sources said yesterday.

The consignment in a 40-foot container contained LTTE stickers demarcating the area which the LTTE claim as their homeland, key tags containing LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's picture and flags with the Tiger emblem were among the propaganda material that were seized.

The Sunday Times learns that the items were seized on the grounds that a false declaration had been made. A person claiming to be an LTTE area leader had called over at the Customs to clear the items on Friday, but the items had not been released, the sources said.

Customs sources added that the person had demanded the release of the consignment on the grounds that the LTTE was no longer a banned organisation.
But, customs officials had pointed out that importing material into the country advocating the creation of a separate state was in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the constitution.

Finance Ministry officials had intervened to secure the release of the consignment as the Customs Department comes under their purview, but the items had not been released.

When The Sunday Times contacted the Director General of Customs, Sarath Jayathilake, he confirmed that the consignment was being detained. He added that he is considering the matter carefully to ascertain whether the release of the the material would constitute a violation of the constitution.

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