Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Tamil Tigers return to Swiss court

The Swiss Federal Court must decide whether the Tamil Tigers are a criminal group – following a complaint from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

The OAGExternal link has filed a complaint against last year’s verdict from the Federal Criminal Court, which ruled that 13 alleged financiers of the Sri Lankan Tamil separatist group – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) – could not be convicted of supporting a criminal group.

On Saturday, a spokesman for the OAG confirmed a report published by CH Media newspapersExternal link, but he gave no reason for the continued legal proceedings. After an investigation lasting nine years, the OAG suspected the accused of financially supporting the World Tamil Coordinating Committee (WTCC).

+ Details of the trial, which cost over $4 million

In June 2018, the Federal Criminal Court found that the hierarchical link between the LTTE and WTCC could not be sufficiently established. The judges also felt there was not enough concrete proof to consider the LTTE as a criminal group.

However, it sentenced five of the accused to conditional prison sentences for commercial fraud and in two cases for forgery of documents. According to the CH Media newspaper report, Zurich lawyer and WTCC defender Marcel Bosonnet, who was handed a conditional sentence, has asked the Federal Court to acquit him.

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

More than 1,100 Swiss cheeses on show in Lugano

More

Swiss Cheese Awards winners announced

This content was published on The three best Swiss cheeses were chosen on Friday in Lugano from over 1100 products submitted to an international jury.

Read more: Swiss Cheese Awards winners announced
Switzerland delivers equipment worth 5.6 million to Ukraine

More

Switzerland will deliver rubble removal equipment to Ukraine

This content was published on Thirty rubble removal machines and thirty fire-fighting pumps: this is the equipment that Switzerland will be delivering to the Ukraine in the next few days. The total value of these goods is 5.6 million Swiss francs.

Read more: Switzerland will deliver rubble removal equipment to Ukraine

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR