Aphoo
07-02-2007, 03:20 PM
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y171/aphoo/lttl.jpg
(DATE: 2007-07-01)
The four Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger members captured from the armed vessel that had entered Maldivian waters last month, were sentenced to 15 years and 6 months in prison by the Criminal Court of the Maldives, today.
The case was sent to the Court yesterday, and during the trial held today three charges was filed against the four men. One of the charges was for trying to import illegal firearms and weapons into Maldives. The charge was filed against the four Tamil Tigers who had hijacked the Sri Lankan vessel “Sri Krishna”, held the engineer of the boat hostage and tried to smuggle illegal firearms in the vessel. They are Mahindhra Rasa Kajeevan, 20, Ramesh Raja Chandhan, 20, Muthalingam Yogaras, 24, and Navarathna Rasa Ranjeeth, 21. The four pleaded guilty to the charges.
The sentence was passed by the Senior Magistrate, Abdulla Areef, who presided over today’s trial.
The second charge brought against them was for illegally crossing international waters into Maldivian territorial waters and for ‘disobedience to orders’. Against the charges, one of the militants, Navarathna, defended himself by saying that if the Coast Guard had asked ‘nicely’ they would have complied and that they couldn’t stop the vessel when the Coast Guard had fired a warning shot because their engine had been damaged. He also said that when the Coast Guard had started firing upon their ship it was him who had thrown a hand grenade to the aft of the ship, destroying the area. All four of them said that despite the boat they were on being equipped with GPS and navigational systems they had only realized that they were in Maldivian territorial waters only when the Coast Guard had appeared. They said that they had been travelling under the guidance from their Ground Commander. One of them said that he could identify Maldives on a world map but wasn’t familiar with the region.
In return the State Prosecutor, Raeefa Abdul Wahhab, said that their account of what had happened could not be believed in the face of the evidence against them. After the hearing the Senior Magistrate sentenced the four to 6 months in prison for their admission that they had illegally entered the territorial waters of the Maldives and for ‘disobedience to orders’.
Terrorism charges were also brought against one of the four militants, Mahindhra Rasa Kajeevan, at today’s trial. He was tried under the Terrorism Act for entering Maldivian territorial waters with illegal firearms and for firing an AK 47 machine gun at the Maldivian fishing vessel “Tuna” and causing severe damages to the vessel. Kajeevan had however pleaded not guilty to the charges. He said that he had fired into the air and that the others had fired into the water. The Magistrate decided to schedule a hearing for that trial at a later date.
The foreign vessel “Sri Krishna” had entered Maldivian territorial waters last month and had shot a fishing vessel that had tried to come near it. The Coast Guard had been summoned and when the armed vessel had refused to obey their orders to stand down the Coast Guard had fired at the armed foreign vessel and sunk it.
(DATE: 2007-07-01)
The four Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger members captured from the armed vessel that had entered Maldivian waters last month, were sentenced to 15 years and 6 months in prison by the Criminal Court of the Maldives, today.
The case was sent to the Court yesterday, and during the trial held today three charges was filed against the four men. One of the charges was for trying to import illegal firearms and weapons into Maldives. The charge was filed against the four Tamil Tigers who had hijacked the Sri Lankan vessel “Sri Krishna”, held the engineer of the boat hostage and tried to smuggle illegal firearms in the vessel. They are Mahindhra Rasa Kajeevan, 20, Ramesh Raja Chandhan, 20, Muthalingam Yogaras, 24, and Navarathna Rasa Ranjeeth, 21. The four pleaded guilty to the charges.
The sentence was passed by the Senior Magistrate, Abdulla Areef, who presided over today’s trial.
The second charge brought against them was for illegally crossing international waters into Maldivian territorial waters and for ‘disobedience to orders’. Against the charges, one of the militants, Navarathna, defended himself by saying that if the Coast Guard had asked ‘nicely’ they would have complied and that they couldn’t stop the vessel when the Coast Guard had fired a warning shot because their engine had been damaged. He also said that when the Coast Guard had started firing upon their ship it was him who had thrown a hand grenade to the aft of the ship, destroying the area. All four of them said that despite the boat they were on being equipped with GPS and navigational systems they had only realized that they were in Maldivian territorial waters only when the Coast Guard had appeared. They said that they had been travelling under the guidance from their Ground Commander. One of them said that he could identify Maldives on a world map but wasn’t familiar with the region.
In return the State Prosecutor, Raeefa Abdul Wahhab, said that their account of what had happened could not be believed in the face of the evidence against them. After the hearing the Senior Magistrate sentenced the four to 6 months in prison for their admission that they had illegally entered the territorial waters of the Maldives and for ‘disobedience to orders’.
Terrorism charges were also brought against one of the four militants, Mahindhra Rasa Kajeevan, at today’s trial. He was tried under the Terrorism Act for entering Maldivian territorial waters with illegal firearms and for firing an AK 47 machine gun at the Maldivian fishing vessel “Tuna” and causing severe damages to the vessel. Kajeevan had however pleaded not guilty to the charges. He said that he had fired into the air and that the others had fired into the water. The Magistrate decided to schedule a hearing for that trial at a later date.
The foreign vessel “Sri Krishna” had entered Maldivian territorial waters last month and had shot a fishing vessel that had tried to come near it. The Coast Guard had been summoned and when the armed vessel had refused to obey their orders to stand down the Coast Guard had fired at the armed foreign vessel and sunk it.