Norway arrests ex LTTE member

Crime branch of the Norwegian Police has arrested an ex-LTTE member on January 26 at his work place in Norway. The 31-year-old man, living in Norway for more than 3 years, has been charged for three killings in his home country before coming to Norway, which the lawyer representing the prosecutor said could be acts of war or war-like scenario, reported a local newspaper, Bygdebladet, on 29 January. Per Zimmer, the lawyer representing the Norwegian Police told the paper that the situation prevailing now in the island had enabled them [the Norwegian authorities] to undertake investigations on the ground. While questioning whether any agency of the war crimes accused Sri Lanka would be recognized in such investigations, diaspora Tamils wonder what action would be taken against the individuals suspected in the commitment and facilitation of war crimes in the island.

Citing the prosecution lawyer, the newspaper said that it was important for the Crime Branch to showcase that Norway was not a free-place where one could escape legal prosecution. The defendant was arrested at his workplace on January 26 and is being held under four weeks detention. The prosecutor had denied the defendant’s bail and contact with outside world, complained defendant’s lawyer, Jørund Knardal, to the paper. The accusation by police was based on what the defendant had said in his application for asylum in Norway back in 2007, the lawyer further said.

According to the lawyer, the defendant under custody met by him has said that he had been ‘forced’ by the LTTE to undertake the acts of killing. One of his family members had been kidnapped, the lawyer told the paper. Skodje is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county of the Sunnmøre region in Norway.