Canada: LTTE fundraiser jailed for 6 months

Clamping down on terrorist funding, a Canadian Court has sentenced a Tamil Tiger fundraiser to six months in jail after the man pleaded guilty to raising funds in the country to help support the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels in Sri Lanka.

The court in Vancouver sentenced Tamil-Canadian Prapaharan Thambithurai, 46, for raising funds for a banned terrorist organisation. He was the first person to be charged under a new Canadian legislation against financing foreign terrorist organisations.

"This is a serious offence," Justice Robert Powers of the British Columbia Supreme Court said and observed that it had done "great harm to all Sri Lankans" by promoting violence by the LTTE.

"The jail sentence was intended to send a message to Thambithurai and others who raise funds. Fanatics would not be deterred, no matter how harsh the sentence," the judge said.

The LTTE was crushed by the Sri Lankan government's forces in May last year after a protracted battle in which its entire top leadership, including supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, were killed.

The judge rejected the prosecution's plea for a two-year sentence and also turned down the defence lawyer's request for a suspended sentence. The police arrested Thambithurai in 2008 in Vancouver -- he was carrying two donations of $300 and $600, 25 pledges of support for a 'Tamil uprising fund', and material promoting the LTTE, including calendars and CDs.

The maximum sentence for fundraising for a banned terrorist group is 10 years. The law does not set a minimum sentence. Thambithurai, who pleaded guilty to fundraising for a banned terrorist organisation, sat expressionless in the prisoner's box and heard the ruling. His wife, relatives and friends appeared stunned as the judge announced the sentence.

Thambithurai was then put in handcuffs and a sheriff escorted him out of the courtroom. Before sentencing, the court heard that Thambithurai admitted to the police that he collected $600 from a Burnaby resident.

He claimed that he was collecting humanitarian aid for the Tamil people. The funds were meant for the World Tamil Movement, which was not a banned organisation at that time.

Canada has recently come under pressure from countries like India and Sri Lanka to act against pro-Khalistan and pro-Tamil groups.