Man tried in Germany for backing LTTE

A Sri Lankan-born man went on trial in Germany today charged with membership of the LTTE which Germany considers a terrorist organisation.

The 53-year-old German national, identified only as Yogendran G by the court, is accused of having raised funds from 2007-2009 for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in and around the northern city of Hamburg.

The LTTE committed a string of attacks against civilian targets and national infrastructure during the country’s decades-long civil war that killed more than 100,000 people and ended in 2009 when government forces crushed the rebels.

Prosecutors in the Hamburg court said the man raised more than 81,000 euros (USD 88,000) for combat and terrorist activities including suicide attacks by the LTTE in its campaign for a separate Tamil homeland in the South Asian country.

The accused, who said he had been a German citizen since 2007, did not speak in his defence on the opening day of the trial, which was scheduled to run until March 7, AFP reports.