Wasting Time, Wasting a Life
Wasting Time, Wasting a Life
Sometimes people get caught up in a web of activities because they feel their conscience leads them to it, not fully understanding just what it is they are committing to, nor the consequences of so doing. It's hard to feel compassion for anyone being charged with terrorism-related activities. As in the support of those engaging in terrorism. Of course it has been said time and again in various contexts concerning a number of different circumstances that one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter.If there is a genuine circumstance where an ethnic group of people representing a minority demographic in a majority-led nation governed by representatives of the majority who exercise a position of oppressive tyranny over the minority, refusing them recognition, citizenship legitimacy, equality, language rights, cultural connections and heritage affiliation, it cannot come as a surprise that the minority group will attempt to agitate by any means possible for a geographic separation. A land of their own.
This is the position of the world's Kurdish population, a large ethnic group caught in a system of national boundaries that sundered their traditional lands from a cohesion they once claimed, separating them and making of them minorities within the geographic boundaries of countries where they represent a minority demographic. Kurds have large ethnic enclaves in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, and have fought for a separate homeland of their own to little avail.
In Sri Lanka, a large but minority presence of Tamils who are also present in numbers in India, have agitated, violently, for a separate, sovereign homeland of their own. The trouble is countries with majority populations insist that minorities not harbour plans to separate, to hive off part of an established geographic region of their own. The government of Sri Lanka fought for years with the savagely militant Tamil Tigers. And finally prevailed, after a bitter struggle on both sides, the Tigers dispersed.
And a Canadian Tamil, Suresh Sriskandarajah, now 32, involved himself, after a visit to Sri Lanka in the wake of the 2004 tsunami disaster, in an effort to help furnish the Tigers with arms. He was born in Sri Lanka but is a Canadian citizen who was president of the University of Waterloo Tamil Students Association. He was also a lively entrepreneur who involved himself in charitable work. And he was committed to finding a peaceful resolution, even while he engaged in supplying the Tigers with arms.
"The defendant helped the LTTE, and organization that pioneered terrorist tactics and has killed numerous civilians in brutal terrorist attacks, obtain sophisticated military technology and equipment. Claiming to fight for freedom, the LTTE instead created a climate of fear and bloodshed, systematically assassinating those who stood in the way of their terrorist goals", said U.S. attorney Loretta Lynch(!) in a New York court on Tuesday.
She spoke as Suresh Sriskandarajah pleaded guilty to all charges brought against him, that he and several co-conspirators between September 2004 and April 2006 helped a Tamil Tiger procurement officer research and acquire aviation equipment, submarine and warship design software, night vision equipment and communications technology, according to prosecutors. A joint FBI/RCMP probe identified the men involved and the engineering graduate was arrested and extradited to New York to stand trial there.
"This is not what I'm supposed to be doing", he said in an interview. "I don't want to waste my life in custody. I just want to forget about this and move on and become a productive member rather than wasting time in jail. I just want to see this resolved and move forward in life and contribute back to society", he said.
Perhaps surprisingly, he has the sympathy of the judge hearing his case, who, though stating "The seriousness of the charges cannot be overstated", is still conflicted over the part the young man played in the affair. The court was in possession of a letter from the government of Sri Lanka urging that American authorities abandon prosecution of Mr. Sriskandarajah, because of "his publicly recognized efforts to secure a lasting, peaceful reconciliation for the Tamil people."
An endorsement of good character from the very source he had armed a terrorist group against, and that is purely amazing. Judge Dearie noted that: "Given the history of Sri Lanka's prolonged and bitter conflict", that request represented "an extraordinary initiative that evidences Suresh's legitimate and admirable work."
It is conceivable that the young man will be sent back to Canada. That he will be considered by the court to have served sufficient time in apprehension awaiting trial since his arrest in 2006, although it is still possible that he could face up to 15 years in prison. Which any reasonable person might be persuaded by his circumstances to consider cruel and unusual punishment.
Labels: Canada-US Relations, Justice, Sri Lanka, Terrorism
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, July 04, 2013
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