Suresh Sriskandarajah
Suresh Sriskandarajah | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1980 (age 43–44) |
| Nationality | Canada |
| Occupation | Student-at-Law |
| Known for | Law, Business and Technology |
Suresh Sriskandarajah (born 1980) is a Canadian citizen who pleaded guilty to U.S. charges of conspiring to provide material support to the Tamil Tigers, a Sri Lankan terrorist organization. He was sentenced to two years in U.S. prison.[1][2]
Suresh was born in Sri Lanka. In 1989 his family fled to Montreal to avoid the violent civil war taking place in the northern part of the country.
In 2004 Suresh used Hotmail, a US company, to communicate regarding the Tamil Tigers.
Suresh was arrested in 2006 by Canadian authorities at the request of US authorities. He was released on bail pending his extradition challenges which was heard by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2012. Shortly after being extradited to USA, Suresh pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2 years in prison.[3]
Both the Sri Lankan and Indian governments each sent a diplomatic note to ask U.S. to abandon the prosecution against Suresh “in light of his publicly recognized efforts to secure a lasting, peaceful reconciliation for the Tamil people” wrote Judge Raymond Dearie of the U.S. District Court. “Given the history of Sri Lanka’s prolonged and bitter conflict, the request is indeed an extraordinary initiative that evidences Suresh’s legitimate and admirable work to secure a lasting and just resolution of the tragic conflict.” [4] The civil war in Sri Lanka came to a bloody end when the Tamil Tigers were defeated in 2009 along with a heavy civilian casualty. [5]
While he was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in Brooklyn, he wrote his law school exams, and tutored 156 inmates to write their high school equivalency and English as a second language tests.[1]
References
- ^ a b "'Waterloo Suresh' gets two years prison for helping terrorists acquire 'sophisticated' military tech". National Post. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
- ^ "'Waterloo Suresh' gets 2 years for attempt to help Tamil Tigers". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
- ^ "Sriskandarajah v. United States of America - SCC Cases (Lexum)". scc-csc.lexum.com. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
- ^ "Sri Lanka urges U.S. to drop charges against Canadian accused of supporting terrorism". National Post. 2013-03-11. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
- ^ "Sri Lanka profile". BBC News. 2017-09-04. Retrieved 2017-11-02.