Australian Tamils pressure police to charge Kohona

by admin
Apr 4, 2012

The Australian Federal Police have confirmed they will be investigating the request to charge Palitha Kohona for alleged war crimes over his involvement in the 'white-flag' incident.

The referral was made by Australia's Minister for Justice, Jason Clare, following correspondence by the Australian Federation of Tamil Association (AFTA) through Michele Rowland MP.

In a letter addressed to the head of the AFTA, Clare wrote,

"The Government [Australian] takes allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other human rights violations very seriously. The Commonwealth Criminal Code act 1995 contains a range of offences for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Each of these offences applies to conduct both within and outside of Australia and all carry severe penalties.

"Investigation of allegations of these crimes is the responsibility of the Australian Federal Police (AFP). As such, I have forwarded Dr Rajakulendran's submission to the AFP for their consideration,"

Speaking to Tamilnet, AFTA said,

"Due to a reshuffle in the cabinet the submission did not get the immediate attention of the previous Minister. AFTA then requested Michelle Rowland MP to resubmit our submission to the new Minister Hon Jason Clare and the new Minister took prompt action and informed us on March 7th 2012 that he has forwarded our submission to AFP for their consideration."

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