COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has expressed “concern” over the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Thursday to annul the EU regulations proscribing the LTTE.
“Expectedly, the ECJ judgment requires in-depth study by all the defendant parties. It is noteworthy that the court has stressed the annulments to be on fundamentally procedural grounds and do not imply any substantive assessment of the question of the classification of the LTTE as a terrorist group,” the Lankan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Further it is observed from the decision of the ECJ that the effects of the annulled measures are maintained temporarily in order to ensure the effectiveness of any possible future freezing of funds,” it noted.
The EU proscribed the LTTE as a terrorist organization in May 2006, and has remained on its list of terrorist entities ever since.
“It is noteworthy that a number of EU member countries have carried out investigations against LTTE activists in their territories, some of which are ongoing, while some have resulted in the accused being sentenced by court,” the Lankan statement said.