Tamil Tigers: defence demands Dutch judges step aside

Published on : 3 October 2011

The panel of judges should be removed from the case against five Sri Lankan men, Dutch lawyer Victor Koppe demanded on Monday. The five are accused of supporting the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), listed since 2006 by the European Union as a terrorist organisation.

Dutch prosecutors have asked for jail sentences between 10 to 16 years against the men for allegedly aiding the rebel movement from the Netherlands, including collecting funds.

But Koppe told the special War Crimes Chamber at The Hague District Court that the trial process was unfair. He said the three judges should step down as they did not guarantee more time for his defence statement. Koppe said it seemed the court was “blatantly ignoring” his defence.

If the judges are ordered to step down by an independent appeals panel, the trial which started last month must begin again with new judges.

Arrested last year as part of a probe in the Netherlands into the activities of the LTTE, the five men have lived in the country for a long time and have Dutch nationality.

But their possible convictions, due later this month, are just the tip of the iceberg - in a case which will be interpreted in Sri Lanka as a decision on who is right and wrong in the country’s 30-year civil war.