German court convicts Tamil guerrilla for assisting in Kadirgamar killing

A Tamil guerrilla convicted by a German court this week, for helping in the assassination of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was responsible for gathering information about the possibility of using firearms from a neighbouring building to carryout the crime.

The Stuttgart Higher Regional Court convicted the 40- year- old suspect whose name is being withheld due to privacy laws, but only identified as Navaneethan.

The accused was found guilty mainly on his own confessions made to court. He was passed on a sentence of six years and 10 months.

The Court was told that the accused had gathered information until May 2005 – three months prior to the assassination of Mr Kadirgamar about the possibility of using firearms from a neighbouring building and the information ‘made a substantial contribution” to the murder.

Minister Kadirgamar, was killed in a sniper attack on August 12, 2005.

The accused, in July 2003 had been ordered by the LTTE to provide information about the habbits, lifestyle and security arrangements of Minister Kadirgamar, the court was told.

He had admitted that he was aware that the LTTE had wanted to assassinate the Minister as he was committed to getting the ban on the LTTE. The accused had entered Germany in February 2012 and he had applied for asylum on March 6, 2012, but his application for refugee status was rejected.

He filed action before the Freiburg Administrative Court, which on July 5, 2017 banned his deportation, based on his arguments presented. The information from the accused before courts provided the basis for the investigation and criminal proceedings that followed.

The judgment said that the allegations made by the General Prosecutor’s office were fully confirmed largely due to the accused’s presentation to court, which he had maintained during the hearing.

He had claimed he was a member of the LTTE since August 30, 2002 and after undergoing two training sessions with the LTTE, had become a member of their ‘military secret service’ and was integrated into its hierarchical structure and chain of command.

At the direction of his superiors, he began collecting information relevant to the attacks on opponents.

The judgment said, as part of the sentence, the Senate took into account as mitigating punishment the fact that the acts occurred long ago and that a guilty verdict would not have been possible without the information of the accused. The case had been taken up 15 times, in which 13 witnesses and three experts gave evidence.

The Sunday Times learns that German authorities had sought the help of the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry through diplomatic channels to ascertain whether the accused had any previous convictions. However, no convictions had been reported.