[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 May 2012, 00:22 GMT]
Ramanan Mylvaganam, 35, accused by the U.S. prosecutors of trying to
buy night vision goggles and assisting in the purchase of computer
equipment, electronic components and communications equipment for the
Liberation Tigers, was allowed to go free after Eastern District of New
York Judge Drearie sentenced Ramanan to time served, rejecting the
request by the Prosecutors who sought a 15-year sentence. Only on Friday
the same judge let another Tamil man who the FBI and the prosecutors
labelled the "leader" for the Tigers in the U.S. go free after time
served.
While the prosecutors argued that Ramanan had committed "a gravely
serious offense," the defense counsel said the crime was an "isolated
transgression."
“We’re so happy, we just can’t believe it. We
didn’t know what was going to happen and this is just great news,"
Ramanan's brother, Ragavan Kathiravetpillai said after the Judge's
decision was announced.
On the 8th February 2012, Ramanan pleaded
guilty to a single count of conspiracy to provide material support to
Liberation Tigers.
Ramanan was arrested on Aug. 22, 2006 by the
RCMP at his Derry Rd. E. apartment. He was picked up at the request of
American authorities. He was supposed to start a job at Microsoft's
international headquarters in Redmond, Washington in late 2006, but
those plans were put on hold after he was arrested. At the time of the
arrest Ramanan was a computer engineering student at University of
Waterloo. One month later, he was granted bail and returned to
university, where he continued to pursue a master's degree.
A
spokesperson for Tamil Against Genocide [TAG], a US-based group that
seeks legal remedies to victims of Sri Lanka's war said, "There is a
clear shift in the way the US Courts are viewing material support
charges to the Liberation Tigers. The judge found the prosecution's
attempt to describe the Canadian student as part of an international
network supplying arms to the Tigers as clearly unpersuasive. If statute
of limitation permits, one can expect appeals based on 28 USC § 2255
attack from others who have previously received harsher sentences on
similar charges," TAG spokesperson said.
Two other Canadians —
Thiruthanikan Thanigasalam and Sahilal Sabaratnam — arrested along with
Ramanan as part of a joint Federal Bureau of Investigation/Royal
Canadian Mounted Police probe in 2006, were sentenced in January 2010 to
25 years in prison after pleading guilty of material support.
A
third Canadian, Satha Sarachandran, 30, was sentenced to 26 years in
prison, while Nadarasa Yogarasa, an Eezham Tamil living in the U.S., got
14 years.
According to a story in the National Post, diaspora
activists said, the Government of Sri Lanka, by promising to help the
three convicted Canadians [by reducing the sentence through diplomatic
channels], has tried to exploit the misery "to undermine Tamil
militancy in the diaspora and bolster Colombo’s image as it faces
accusations of war crimes."
The families "have met with senior
Sri Lankan officials in recent months to make their case for leniency.
They said the country’s powerful defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa,
had assured them Sri Lanka was open to their proposals," National Post
said in a story dated October 7, 2011.
But, TAG spokesperson
commented, "absent a Presidential pardon, there is hardly any
extra-legal mechanism available to intervene in the U.S. judicial
process to obtain leniency after conviction. We hope that the families
use all legal recourse available to appeal the conviction, and not be
misled by the promises of Colombo which is as helpless as any other lay
person to influence the judiciary by extra-legal means," TAG said on the
unfortunate predicament of those serving long jail sentences.
Two
other Canadians, Suresh Sriskandarajah, who is accused of conspiring
with Ramanan to procure equipment for the Tamil rebels, and Pratheepan
Nadarajah, who is sought in a related case, have appealed their
extradition orders to the Supreme Court of Canada.
"The recent
decisions by Judge Drearie will have a bearing on the evolving pre-trial
attorney engagements for Suresh Sriskandarajah and Pratheepan. While
the fact patterns and charges for each case is different, the
Prosecutors will hesitate to fight for extradition if there are
plausible grounds to expect that Judge Drearie will likely rule in a
similar manner to the recent cases," TAG spokesperson commented.
Chronology:
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