Is the Tamil Diaspora to blame for lengthening the war in Sri Lanka and making it more gruesome?
This is the controversial way that the case against Tamil diaspora leaders in Switzerland has been framed. The hearing starts in Bellinzona today.
Eleven months ago, the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger stated that‚ ‘in May 2009’…. ‘in the same month’ that the ‘war of extermination‘ against the Tamils was completed ‘the federal prosecutor’s office began investigating exponents of the Tamil Tigers. The charge: by sending money, Tamil leaders who live in Switzerland would have extended the war in their homeland and made it more gruesome’.
The office of the federal prosecutor did not challenge this media representation of its position. This means that if the court in Bellinzona convicts the defendants, it will have disturbing political repercussions. It will shift the blame for the ‘war of extermination’ to the Tamils themselves.
The scale of the slaughter in 2009, cannot be hidden from view of the international community. A report commissioned by the UN secretary general estimated that over 70,000 Tamil people were killed during these months. But a conviction in Bellinzona would deliver a very strong propaganda weapon into the hands of the Sri Lankan state and its powerful international backers. When accused of a genocidal attack on the Tamil people they could respond that the courts in Switzerland has ruled that it is more like suicide.
We are going to fight this gross miscarriage of justice. While the Staatsanwalte is building up the case in Bellinzona, we will build a case as to who is really to blame for the war of extermination against the Eelam Tamils. At the same time as reporting on the proceeding we will build up a fact based timeline in our website as to what really took place internally and externally during the period 1999 to 2009 – the decade that the defendants are accused of wrongdoing.
During the coming weeks we will also launch several initiatives where you can participate and interact.
