| Ausi Tamils Privacy at Risk: Australian Federal Police(AFP) use Sri Lankan Police for Translation |
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For Translation Services Australian Federal Police(AFP) is using Sri Lankan Police , who have been complicit in abduction of Tamils in Sri Lankan Capital City of Colombo. Sri Lankan Security Forces are under heavy criticism by Human Rights Organisations, for their human rights violations against minority tamils. Australian Federal Police Constable Drossos told a melbourne court, today, two officers and a junior member from Sri Lankan Police, came to Australia on July 28, 2006 and were used to help translate material already seized by the AFP. It is unknown why AFP used Sri Lankan Police for Translation Services while there are plenty of Federal Government Translation Services exist ( Australian Federal Court - FREE Translation Service http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/translations/translate.html ). A recent SBS program exposed, Epidemic of Abduction in Sri Lanka and how Australians are caught in Sri Lanka State Terror. Epidemic of Abduction in Sri Lanka , Australians Caught in Sri Lanka State Terror - SBS Dateline Program 11th July 2007 - Part 1 Epidemic of Abduction in Sri Lanka , Australians Caught in Sri Lanka State Terror - SBS Dateline Program 11th July 2007 - Part 2
Witnesses to be called in the committal hearing of three men facing terrorism charges cut and pasted slabs from another witness' statement, a Melbourne court has heard. Melbourne pair Aruran Vinayagamoorthy, 33, and Sivarajah Yathavan, 36, along with Arumugan Rajeevan, 41, of Old Toongabbie in Sydney's west, have been charged with being members of a terrorist organisation, making funds available to a terrorist organisation and making an asset available to a proscribed entity. Vinayagamoorthy, of Mount Waverley, and Yathavan, of Vermont South, have also been charged with intentionally providing support or resources to a terrorist organisation. The trio are accused of using the Melbourne-based Tamil Coordinating Committee to raise funds for Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or Tamil Tigers. Constable Spiros Drossos, who works for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Melbourne, on Friday gave evidence at the hearing in the Melbourne Magistrate's court. The court was told Federal Agent Drossos was the team leader in an investigation into the activities of Tamils in Australia and links with the LTTE in Sri Lanka. He had been involved in a raid on a premises occupied by Vinayagamoorthy in November 2005, in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, where police seized several items. The AFP investigation eventually led to the arrests of the three accused men in May 2007. The court was told that on July 28, 2006, three members of the Sri Lankan police force arrived in Melbourne to assist the AFP in their investigation. Const Drossos told the court the two officers and a junior member were used to help translate material already seized by the AFP. "They played a vetting role for a large amount of propaganda, books, etc," Const Drossos told the court. The men returned to Sri Lanka on August 5. During cross-examination by defence lawyer Phillip Boulten, SC, Const Drossos said he could not recall if a record had been made of what the men had viewed while at the AFP's Melbourne offices. Const Drossos said the men did take notes, but they were not given material to take back to Sri Lanka. The court was told Const Drossos travelled to Sri Lanka in September 2006, where he met with one of the three Sri Lanka police officers who had been in Melbourne. That officer, who is known as L, has made a statement and is due to be called as one of several Sri Lanka police and military witnesses next week. The defence claims that there was "a traffic of correspondence" between the AFP office in Melbourne and Sri Lanka during the preparation of the witness statements. Mr Boulten asked Const Drossos if he was aware that other Sri Lankan witnesses had cut and pasted "slabs of L's report for their own statements". Const Drossos said that it was possible the statement of one witness had been used by other witnesses, so their affidavits were then standardised. "There may have been a pro-forma affidavit prepared by the Sri Lankans," Const Drossos said. But he said: "I was not aware that that was going to happen." The hearing before Magistrate Peter Reardon continues on Monday. |
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