A German court will hear a legal case against a Tamil individual for waving the Eelam national during a Tamil community event.
The trial will be held on Wednesday 19 April 2023 at the district court in Tiergarten, Berlin.
Responding to the case, the People's Council of Eelam Tamils (VETD) decried the case as an act of criminalisation of the Eelam Tamil identity and may set a dangerous precedent. German Police claim that the individual was upholding a symbol of the Liberational Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a group proscribed under the EU’s terrorist list since 2006. However, VETD highlights that in the UK, the Home Office has distinguished between the Eelam national flag and that of the Liberational Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Similarly, countries such as Canada have heeded the advice of their Tamil citizens and abided by a similar distinction.
Discussing the distinctions between the flags, VETD note that the main difference is that the Eelam national flag does not have writing of the LTTE’s name and has been used widely by public institutions throughout the diaspora.
“The Eelam Tamil flag was introduced to serve as a symbol for the Eelam Tamils. It is the flag of the nation that represents all regardless of party and is part of the Eelam Tamil identity […] The national flag and its individual symbols also stand for a free, equal and self-determined society”.
VETD’s statement adds:
“This is particularly important to the Tamils, as they have been denied these principles of international law for centuries due to European and Sinhalese colonization. The ongoing genocide at home [Sri Lanka] led to people fleeing to Western countries in order to at least be able to live freely and self-determinedly there”.
They urge the German government to follow the lead of the UK and Canada in recognising both the flag and the right of Eelam Tamils to self-determination.
“The Tamils fled to Germany because of the racist and oppressive policies of the Sinhalese state. Criminalizing Eelam Tamil identity in Germany would only support the autocratic Sri Lankan regime”.
German Tamils are planning to demonstrate outside of the court and make sure that their voices are heard.
Read more here.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
