LTTE funds to remain frozen in European Union countries

Colombo: The funds of the LTTE will remain frozen in the European Union countries despite the recent judgement by the 28-member bloc's top court to remove the Sri Lankan Tamil rebels from its terror list, the grouping has said.

In 2006, the EU banned the LTTE as a terrorist organisation and has maintained the LTTE on its list.

In 2014, the General Court annulled the restrictive measures concerning the LTTE due to procedural shortcomings. The 2014 judgement was appealed by the Council of the European Union at the European Court of Justice.

The EU has said the LTTE funds will remain frozen despite the recent judgement by the ECJ to lift the previous order of freezing funds restricted to the period 2011 and 2015, the EU said in a statement.

"The Court of Justice found that the Council failed to explain why it believed the LTTE still had the intention to continue terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka despite the LTTE's military defeat in 2009. In the judgement issued on July 26, the European Court of Justice confirmed the annulment of the continued freezing of the LTTE's funds between 2011 and 2015. The judgement only applies to this specific period of time," a EU statement said.

These same funds remain frozen as a result of the two most recent reviews by the Council which took place in July 2016 and January 2017.

Any future review must take into account the judgement of the Court of Justice issued on July 26. At present, however, the LTTE remains designated as a terrorist organisation in the European Union (EU), and the EU's restrictive measures against the LTTE remain in force, the statement added.