In a letter to the US State Department, the Sri Lankan government asked the US to discontinue to the prosecution of a Tamil Canadian Suresh Sriskandarajah reports the National Post.
Sriskandarajah was extradited to New York in December, charged with buying equipment and laundering money for the LTTE.
The letter which came to light last month during his bail hearing last month, and said, “in light of his publicly recognized efforts to secure a lasting, peaceful reconciliation for the Tamil people,”
The National Post reported, 'The U.S. court documents do not explain why Sri Lanka intervened in Mr. Suresh’s trial, but several sources said the government had been attempting to use those arrested in the O-Needle investigation to turn Tamil-Canadians against the Tigers.'
Judge Raymond Dearie of the US District Court said:
“Given the history of Sri Lanka’s prolonged and bitter conflict, the request is indeed an extraordinary initiative that evidences Suresh’s legitimate and admirable work to secure a lasting and just resolution of the tragic conflict.”
Judge Dearie deemed that the letter was irrelevent to the bail proceedings. The case is going ahead.
