Ontario Man Arrested in Vancouver for Collecting Money on Behalf of the Tamil Tigers; Judge Releases Him on Bail
Anyone else care to bet that this jerk is going to jump bail?
Man charged with terrorism financing gets bail
Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, March 18, 2008
VANCOUVER — A 44-year-old Ontario man was ordered released on $25,000 cash bail today after being arrested and charged with Canada’s first terrorism financing charge.
Prapaharan Thambithurai is accused of collecting money from ethnic Tamils in Metro Vancouver that was destined for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, a foreign terrorist organization under Canadian law.
Thambithurai, also known as “Prapa,” was soliciting donations for the World Tamil Movement (WTM), which police say is the leading Tamil Tigers front organization in Canada.
He was arrested March 14 at 9:20 p.m. in a vehicle stopped by police on McBride in New Westminster. He was charged at 11 p.m. that night.
It is alleged he arrived in the Vancouver area March 13 and was here to collect money on behalf of the illegal Tamil Tigers organization.
Federal prosecutor Ernie Froess consented to the man being released on $25,000 cash bail and strict reporting conditions in Toronto, but will return to Vancouver for court appearances.
Thambithurai, who is married with three children, was ordered by a judge to surrender his passport to Vancouver RCMP and not to contact five people in the Vancouver area.
He is to reside at his home in Ontario and only return to Vancouver to attend court or discuss matters with his lawyer, Richard Peck.
Peck request for a ban on publication of the bail heard was granted by a judge.
Outside court, Peck said his client used to live in Vancouver, where he took accounting courses through the University of B.C. and started a TV satellite installation business. He said his client works for the World Tamil Movement (WTM), which raises humantiarian funds for people in Sri Lanka.
Police, however, say the WTM is a front for the LTTE, which was listed as a banned terrorist organization in 2006.
Thambithurai’s wife attended the bail hearing in Vancouver but declined to speak to repoprters as she left the courthouse with another man. They got into a Nissan Pathfinder driver by a woman and drove away.
nhall@png.canwest.com
18 March, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Can’t we just invade Canada?
21 March, 2008 at 11:36 pm
kunaratnam,
Your comment was deleted because you used the “C” word and everything you said was just plain stupid. — I seriously doubt your supposition that the Queen could fit a Bible in there…
Contrary to all your whining and lame attempts to whitewash, the Tamil Tigers ARE Terrorists. They have been blowing innocent civilians up for quite some time now… Even al Qaeda has modeled their tactics on the works of the Tamil Tigers.
And, despite your rantings, race has nothing to do with Canada and the U.S. placing the Tamil Tigers, or any other group on the Terrorism watch list, and you know that. Only racist idiots try to play the race card, so your true colors are showing…