A federal judge in USA called into question the "emblazoned banner of terrorism" during the sentencing of Karunakaran Kandasamy, accused of providing material support to the LTTE.

Emphasising the need to "look at the case specifically", Judge Raymond Dearie said he believed that Kandasamy was engaged in providing humanitarian, not military, aid for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Deeming the 20-year sentence sought by the prosecution "excessive", Judge Dearie sentenced Kandasamy to time served in jail of five years. 

Dearie said,

"This is not a garden variety terrorism case,"

"We do not accommodate any of support terrorism on U.S. soil. That said, we have to pull back that emblazoned banner of terrorism and look at the case specifically." 

Kandasamy, aged 55, had pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to provide material aid to a proscribed terrorist organisation.

He said,

"I was raised in a country where my family lived in constant fear... My intent was only to help my people."

In a letter submitted in court, the his defence lawyer, Charles Ross, stated that his client, a US citizen since seeking asylum in 1980, belonged to an ethnic group that had faced genocide at the hands of Sinhala ethnic majority.

Ross added,

"[Kandasamy] is a fundamentally good and decent man who wanted to help the community he clearly loved - a community that suffered terribly for many years".

"There is no question that Kandasamy went too far and broke the law, but like other defendants in this case, he was motivated by a deep desire to help his people,"

See also:

Dutch court rules LTTE not terrorist organisation (22 Oct 2012)

British Tamil sentenced for ‘supplying LTTE’ (24 Jun 2009)