<p>The Supreme Court of Canada has effectively upheld the acquittal of three Tamils who were charged with human smuggling following the arrival of a ship carrying hundreds of Tamil asylum seekers to British Columbia.</p>
<p>In a decision on Thursday the court rejected the government’s application for an appeal hearing on the case.</p>
<p>In August 2010, the Canadian navy intercepted the cargo ship MV Sun Sea carrying 492 Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka.</p>
<p> Lesly Emmanuel, Nadarajah Mahendran and Thampeernayagam Rajaratnam were charged with violating the Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act by organising, inducing, aiding or abetting the illegal entry of people into Canada.</p>
<p>The Crown alleged the men were part of a human-smuggling operation linked to organised crime.</p>
<p>The three men were acquitted in early 2017 by a jury in British Columbia’s Supreme Court.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court of Canada gave no reasons for refusing to hear the case.</p>
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