This in Australia (Victoria):
http://au.news.yahoo.com/070321/2/12tsg.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Tuesday May 1, 07:30 PM
<b>Vic men charged for funding Tamil Tigers</b>
Two Melbourne men charged with terrorism offences are accused of channelling money raised under the guise of tsunami relief to Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tigers.
Aruran Vinayagamoorthy, 32, of Mount Waverley, and Sivarajah Yathavan, 36, of Vermont South, appeared in a Melbourne court on Tuesday following a series of counter-terrorism raids in Melbourne and Sydney.
Melbourne Magistrates' Court was told the pair faced three charges each of being a member of a terrorist organisation, providing support or resources to a terrorist organisation and making funds available to a terrorist organisation.
However, defence lawyer Rob Stary, acting for one of the men, attacked the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for staging a media conference on the arrests before they faced court, saying the men were entitled to a presumption of innocence.
"(It's) of concern to us the way this has unfolded," he told the court.
The men are alleged to have committed the offences between July 6, 2002, and May 1, 2007.
They were charged after a two-year investigation by the AFP and Victoria Police.
Commonwealth prosecutor Mark Dean SC said the defendants collected money in Australia which was sent through various channels in Asia to the Sri Lanka-based Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or Tamil Tigers.
The Tamil Tigers have been waging a bloody secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s.
It will be alleged the men used tsunami relief appeals as a vehicle to raise funds for the organisation.
Mr Dean told the court a number of payments to the organisation had been identified and more evidence was being analysed.
He said the men, who had been under electronic surveillance for some time, also supported the organisation by providing electronic and marine equipment.
However, Mr Stary argued the Tamil Tigers were not a proscribed terrorist organisation in Australia. <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
While the Tamil Tigers are not (not) listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia, it is against the law in this country to provide funds to the group.
Mr Stary also said there was not enough information available to enable the charged men to apply for bail.
The prosecution agreed to make more information available within two days and Mr Stary indicated a bail application would likely be made on Monday.
Magistrate Clive Alsop remanded the men in custody until July 24 for a committal mention.
Earlier, AFP Assistant Commissioner Frank Prendergast said there was no evidence the men were planning a terrorist attack on Australian soil.
"The offences that they have been charged with relate to activities which occurred in Australia which were directed at supporting the LTTE in Sri Lanka," he said.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe told reporters police were concerned at allegations that well-meaning charity donors may have been deceived.
"We're concerned that that sort of thing is taking place in Australia, that Australian citizens are being duped ... into making contributions to what they believe to be honest fund-raising activities in terms of relief for people in distress."
The two men were arrested during swoops on Tuesday on business and residential addresses in the Melbourne suburbs of Glen Waverley, Dandenong, Burwood East and Vermont.
Police acting on warrants also raided addresses in Parramatta and Old Toongabbie in Sydney.
Several international law enforcement agencies were involved in the operation, police said.
If found guilty, the men face a maximum of 25 years in jail.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://au.news.yahoo.com/070321/2/12tsg.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Tuesday May 1, 07:30 PM
<b>Vic men charged for funding Tamil Tigers</b>
Two Melbourne men charged with terrorism offences are accused of channelling money raised under the guise of tsunami relief to Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tigers.
Aruran Vinayagamoorthy, 32, of Mount Waverley, and Sivarajah Yathavan, 36, of Vermont South, appeared in a Melbourne court on Tuesday following a series of counter-terrorism raids in Melbourne and Sydney.
Melbourne Magistrates' Court was told the pair faced three charges each of being a member of a terrorist organisation, providing support or resources to a terrorist organisation and making funds available to a terrorist organisation.
However, defence lawyer Rob Stary, acting for one of the men, attacked the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for staging a media conference on the arrests before they faced court, saying the men were entitled to a presumption of innocence.
"(It's) of concern to us the way this has unfolded," he told the court.
The men are alleged to have committed the offences between July 6, 2002, and May 1, 2007.
They were charged after a two-year investigation by the AFP and Victoria Police.
Commonwealth prosecutor Mark Dean SC said the defendants collected money in Australia which was sent through various channels in Asia to the Sri Lanka-based Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or Tamil Tigers.
The Tamil Tigers have been waging a bloody secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s.
It will be alleged the men used tsunami relief appeals as a vehicle to raise funds for the organisation.
Mr Dean told the court a number of payments to the organisation had been identified and more evidence was being analysed.
He said the men, who had been under electronic surveillance for some time, also supported the organisation by providing electronic and marine equipment.
However, Mr Stary argued the Tamil Tigers were not a proscribed terrorist organisation in Australia. <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
While the Tamil Tigers are not (not) listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia, it is against the law in this country to provide funds to the group.
Mr Stary also said there was not enough information available to enable the charged men to apply for bail.
The prosecution agreed to make more information available within two days and Mr Stary indicated a bail application would likely be made on Monday.
Magistrate Clive Alsop remanded the men in custody until July 24 for a committal mention.
Earlier, AFP Assistant Commissioner Frank Prendergast said there was no evidence the men were planning a terrorist attack on Australian soil.
"The offences that they have been charged with relate to activities which occurred in Australia which were directed at supporting the LTTE in Sri Lanka," he said.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe told reporters police were concerned at allegations that well-meaning charity donors may have been deceived.
"We're concerned that that sort of thing is taking place in Australia, that Australian citizens are being duped ... into making contributions to what they believe to be honest fund-raising activities in terms of relief for people in distress."
The two men were arrested during swoops on Tuesday on business and residential addresses in the Melbourne suburbs of Glen Waverley, Dandenong, Burwood East and Vermont.
Police acting on warrants also raided addresses in Parramatta and Old Toongabbie in Sydney.
Several international law enforcement agencies were involved in the operation, police said.
If found guilty, the men face a maximum of 25 years in jail.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->