Germany jails LTTE spy for six years over Kadirgamar assassination

• Ex-LTTE Intelligence cadre sentenced to 6 years, 10 months
• Prosecutors claim the accused was a member of LTTE Intelligence Wing
• Suspect claims his statement was mistranslated

A Court in Germany yesterday sentenced a Sri Lankan man to six years and 10 months imprisonment for his involvement in the assassination of late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. 

Kadirgamar was a Tamil lawyer, President’s Counsel, politician, and statesman, and was killed by a LTTE sniper at his residence in Colombo 7 on 12 August 2005. 

The regional court in Stuttgart concluded that the defendant had informed members of the LTTE of Lakshman Kadirgamar’s whereabouts. The accused was only identified as Navanithan G. in accordance with German privacy laws. 

Federal Prosecutors in Stuttgart alleged that Navanithan was a member of the LTTE’s intelligence unit. He had applied for asylum in Germany in 2012. According to German media reports, the defendant had confessed that he tipped off Kadirgamar’s assassins during an asylum interview with German authorities but had later claimed that his statement was mistranslated. 

The ruling can be appealed.