Story behind the arrest of Tiger activist trio

From early this week, several key Sri Lankan military, legal and law enforcement officials will testify via satellite link from a secret location in Colombo, in an Australian court case, against three LTTE activists in Australia.

Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda, Inspector General of Police Victor Perera, Deputy Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda, Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe and several key senior military, police and STF personnel will this week testify in committal proceedings being held against Aruran Vinayagamoorthy, Sivarajah Yathavan and Arumugam Rajeewan, who according to the Australian prosecutor are LTTE activists who were running a LTTE fund raising network using a LTTE front organisation called the Tamil Co-ordinating Committee (TCC). The Director of Public Prosecutions of the State of Victoria has charged the accused for being members of a terrorist organization (LTTE), for providing material support to a terrorist organisation and for funding a terrorist organisation.

The Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) commenced covert investigations two years ago into LTTE fund raising activities, as part of its anti-terrorism initiative, The Sunday Times learns. During investigations, the accused and another suspect named Thillaindarajah Jeyakumar were kept under close surveillance by the AFP, with their movements and transactions being closely monitored. Jeyakumar is widely known to be the leading LTTE activist in Australia.

In a 2003 visit to Sri Lanka, the suspects visited Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi where they met with several senior LTTE leaders, The Sunday Times learns. During the period of investigation, the suspects’ communications with each other and other parties were lawfully intercepted and recorded by the AFP. During a search of their residences, the AFP collected material and information clearly suggestive of their involvement with the LTTE. Investigations also surfaced evidence that Aruran Vinayagamoorthy had brought to Sri Lanka a large number of sophisticated electronic equipment which are used to remotely activate claymore mines. Equipment used for Sea Tiger boats had also been handed over to the LTTE.

Investigations have revealed that these suspects annually collect several million Australian dollars on behalf of the LTTE. The monies collected in the guise of humanitarian and tsunami aid had been initially channelled to bank accounts in several South Asian countries, and thereafter used for LTTE arms purchases. It is believed that Kumaran Pathmanadan alias KP who recently made headline news with regard to his alleged arrest, played a key role in channelling funds collected in Australia to secret LTTE bank accounts.After substantial investigations, the AFP arrested the three suspects on May 1, 2007. The main suspect Jeyakumar died of natural causes on March 29, 2007, before he could be arrested. Following his death, parallel to his funeral in Sydney, the LTTE conducted a simulated funeral in Kilinochchi with hundreds of school children being required by the LTTE to participate. Video footage of the funerals is now in the hands of the AFP. LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran posthumously awarded Jeyakumar the highest civilian award of the LTTE, hitherto awarded to only three persons, including former LTTE theoretician Dr. Anton Balasingham.

Following the arrest of the suspects, the fund raising activities of the LTTE in Australia have suffered a major setback, The Sunday Times learns. During the Australian criminal investigations, AFP officers met with their counterparts in Sri Lanka and obtained assistance to carry out investigations in Sri Lanka. The assistance of the Attorney General’s Department was obtained through a formal request to the authorities in Colombo through the Foreign Ministry in Colombo, to handle the complexities of the investigation.