Thirteen supporters of Sri Lanka's now defunct terrorist group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in Switzerland will stand trial before the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona on Monday for providing financial support to the organization through a sophisticated microcredit system. The accused from Switzerland, Germany and Sri Lanka are charged with funneling more than $15.3 million to the terrorist organization.

Some of the accused are former members of the World Tamil Coordinating Committee (WTCC), which represented the LTTE in Switzerland until 2009, and include its founder, his deputy and the person in charge of finances, a Swissinfo report said. Between 1999 and 2009, they allegedly created a complex fundraising structure which involved coaxing members of the Tamil diaspora to obtain loans from banks. To raise higher amounts, the WTCC created fictitious companies in the name of borrowers that issued fake salary certificates.

The 13 on trial face charges of fraud, false documentation, money laundering and extortion. As the LTTE was never declared a terror organization in Switzerland, they will not face charges of funding a terror group, unlike cases involving Islamic State or al-Qaeda. "The Attorney General strongly suspects the LTTE faction under investigation of having collected the money in question by means of threats and by creating a regime of fear to induce them to make the payments," says a court document. The Swiss funds were transported in cash by couriers to Singapore and Dubai, eventually reaching the LTTE in Sri Lanka who allegedly used the money to purchase arms. This funding system collapsed in 2009 after the LTTE's military defeat at the hands of the Sri Lankan armed forces.

"I don't think [the 13 suspects] should face trial as the LTTE struggled for the freedom and self-determination of Tamils, which is not a crime. It takes two parties to make a war and Switzerland should investigate the war crimes of the Sri Lankan army as well," Anna Annor, president of Swiss Council of Eelam Tamils, told swissinfo.ch on Thursday. The whole process was set in motion almost ten years ago when the Office of the Attorney General launched an investigation in 2009 against "unknown persons" for extortion, coercion, money laundering and organized crime.

In 2011, a vast sting operation in several Swiss cantons resulted in the arrest of several suspects who were later released within a span of two months. A year later, a delegation from the Office of the Attorney General and the Federal Office of Police travelled to Sri Lanka to interview around 15 witnesses. "Around 80% of Tamils living in Switzerland had made payments to support LTTE at the time to support the struggle against genocide. That does not make Tamils supporters of terrorism," says Kuruparan Kurusamy, former president of the Swiss Council of Eelam Tamils. The trial of the accused was originally scheduled for June 2016. However, proceedings were delayed when the lawyer of one of the accused demanded that a bank involved in the financial transactions also be cited by the judge as one of the defendants.

According to Kurusamy, the bank in question was Credit Suisse and he claims it had accepted 135 loans under the name of one Sri Lankan national based in Germany. However, the Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, allowing the trial to go ahead. A verdict is expected around mid-March. Around 50,000 people from Sri Lanka live in Switzerland, mostly ethnic Tamils, who fled the island's 30-year civil war that ended in 2009. Many applied for Swiss citizenship and as of 2016 there were slightly more than 28,000 people with Sri Lankan citizenship residing in Switzerland. In 2016, the Swiss government announced it would apply more stringent criteria for granting Sri Lankan nationals refugee status.

Sri Lanka took minimal steps to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses, the 2023 report issued by the US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour on Sri Lanka's Human Rights Practices has alleged.

A top delegation of the Chinese Communist Party headed by Vice Minister of the International Department, Sun Haiyan met National People's Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the JVP head office today. The delegation included head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party Liu Jianchao and Political Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka Chen Xiang Yuan.

The head of one of Canada’s largest police forces met with a Sri Lankan inspector general of police who two weeks earlier had been found by the South Asian country’s highest court to have “participated in the torture” of an arrested man.

The Colombo District Court issued an interim injunction preventing former President Maithripala Sirisena from functioning as the chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Ebrahim Raisi and President Ranil Wickremesinghe jointly inaugurated the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project (UOMDP) a short while ago. This project is one of the largest irrigation projects in Sri Lanka following the Mahaweli Development Project

The three-day adournment debate on the Easter Sunday attacks commenced in Parliament today. The adournment debate was moved by SJB MP Niroshan Perera and seconded by SJB MP Kavinda Jayawardane. The debate will be held for three days.

The Sri Lanka Army has decided to appoint a special investigation committee consisting of 07 senior officers chaired by a Major General to probe the accident that occurred during the Diyatalawa Fox Hill Supercross.

Vice Minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Sun Haiyan, is set to arrive in Sri Lanka today for a two-day official visit, as reported by The Thinakaran Newspaper.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that their Consular Affairs Division will be relocated to the new premises at the 16th floor of “Suhurupaya”, Sri Subhuthipura Road, Battaramulla with effect from May 02, 2024.

Two persons have died after police fired at a three-wheeler that was driving in defiance of orders to halt at Millawa in Moragahahena.

A 78-year-old man, Gopal Rao, of Bengaluru, Karnataka, died of a heart attack while he was swimming from Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka to the Dhanushkodi islet in Rameswaram, T.N., on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.

The National People's Power (NPP) has officially notified the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) yesterday that they are prepared to hold the proposed debate between NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa on one of the following days: May 7, 9, 13, or 14.

The Catholic Church is planning to present a proposal to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) through several foreign governments and international organizations to initiate an international investigation into the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks with a view to mete out justice to the victims of those attacks.

Seven individuals, including a child, lost their lives, and 23 others sustained injuries in a tragic accident at the “Fox Hill Super Cross 2024” racing event in Diyatalawa on Sunday (21). The casualties included four racing event officials serving as flag marshals and civilians who were spectators.

The latest iteration of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) training exercise – CARAT Sri Lanka 2024 will commence with participation by the United States Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and Sri Lanka Navy in Trincomalee today (22).

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who took up the position as the Acting Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) could lose his parliamentary seat, according to the party constitution of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), SLPP MP Tissa Kuttiarachchi said today.

Two racing drivers who participated in yesterday's Fox Hill Super Cross 2024 racing event have been arrested by the police over the accident which killed seven people. The arrested are a 36-year-old racer from Matara and 47-year-old from Mahakanda, Peradeniya.

Fmr Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, Milinda Moragoda met with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval last Friday (19) in New Delhi. Moragoda, the founder of the Pathfinder Foundation, was on a short visit to India and has had discussions with several senior government leaders and heads of think tanks

The Fox Hill Super Cross 2024 racing event, held in Diyatalawa, turned tragic as a race car veered off the track, resulting in the deaths of five individuals and leaving 21 others hospitalized with injuries.

There is a total shortage of 40,000 teachers in schools in the country, General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers' Union, Joseph Stalin said. Addressing the media, he said the shortage of teachers in schools is reported in the Western, Eastern, North-Central, Southern and Uva Provinces.