A Tamil man has been acquitted by a German court of charges of war crimes related to his alleged involvement with the LTTE.
The 37-year-old defendant known as Sivatheeban B was acquitted by the Higher State Court of Düsseldorf on November 8, 2019.
During the course of the hearings which started on August 26, it became clear that the accusations would not be proven, the court said in a statement. In fact the arrest warrant against him was waived in October and he was released from pre-trial detention.
The German federal prosecutor’s office had accused Sivatheeban of having been a member of the LTTE and of participating in alleged war crimes - executing 15 Sri Lankan soldiers in 2008 and shooting at soldiers near Mullivaikkal in March 2009.
“When do German prosecutors finally focus on Sri Lanka army, security forces et al. for systematic torture, disappearance, sexualized violence, killings etc?” said Andreas Schüller a program director for the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR).
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.
