DRUG TRAFFICKER LOSES BID TO STAY IN CANADA

Sri Lankan Native Part Of $10m Heroin Ring In 1987 That Raised Terrorist Funds

The bar does not have to be high for determining involvement in terrorist
fundraising, concludes a court ruling that denies refugee protection to a
drug trafficker whose proceeds of crime financed terrorism abroad.

The Federal Court of Canada decision is the latest in the complicated legal
saga of Veluppillai Pushpanathan, 47, that began 15 years ago when the Sri
Lankan native was arrested as part of a $10-million heroin ring to raise
money for the terrorist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The court said the Toronto cook committed a United Nations crime against
humanity for his complicity in terrorist activities -- regardless of
whether he was a member of the Tigers or the money he raised directly
brought harm to others.

"There is overwhelming evidence that the LTTE is a terrorist organization
that commits crimes against humanity through a myriad of activities," wrote
Judge Pierre Blais. "It has been established that the applicant is
complicit due to his financing of crimes through the trafficking of
narcotics in Canada and that the LTTE is famous for committing crimes
against humanity."

The Tigers -- described in court documents as "one of the world's most
feared organizations" -- is infamous for killing civilians and establishing
a global crime network to fund its fight for a Tamil homeland.

Mr. Pushpanathan, who came to Canada in 1985, says he would be at serious
risk if he were to return to Sri Lanka because his drug conviction would
peg him as a Tamil Tiger and security forces would therefore torture or
kill him.

He argues in a court affidavit he deserves to stay in Canada because he has
lived a crime-free life since he was freed from prison in 1991. "I am now
married with three children and leading a normal, quiet life."

The court rejected Mr. Pushpanathan's claim he participated in the
Tamil-run drug trafficking ring purely for personal "greed" and had no
knowledge the money he raised was being sent to the Tigers.

He was sentenced to eight years for his crime and he was jailed in a
federal penitentiary before he was paroled and applied for refugee status.

At issue before the Federal Court was the test for determining whether a
person has committed a crime against humanity under the UN convention for
refugees, which says there must be "a serious reason for considering" that
a misdeed has happened.

The test is a relatively low one, the court concluded. Formal membership
and direct involvement are not required to establish complicity.

"The phrase 'serious reason for considering' confirms that the
international community was willing to lower the standard of proof in order
to ensure that undeserving individuals were denied safe havens," wrote
Judge Blais.

The court noted the standard stems from the period following the Second
World War, when signatory states to the 1951 refugee convention gave
themselves wide power of exclusion to keep out war criminals.

The decision upholds a 2001 ruling of the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Immigration spokeswoman Giovanna Gatti said the department is still
reviewing the case and has not determined its next step, nor whether the
ruling will apply to other refugees believed to be involved in offshore
terrorism.

There also could be years of further appeals in the case. Mr.
Pushpanathan's lawyer, Lorne Waldman, could not be reached for comment on
whether he will challenge the decision.

Thus far, Mr. Pushpanathan's case has taken him as far as the Supreme Court
of Canada, where he won a landmark case five years ago that found people
cannot be denied refugee hearings because they were convicted of drug
trafficking. The court sent the case back to the refugee board, which ruled
Mr. Pushpanathan should be denied refugee status nonetheless. He challenged
that decision in Federal Court.

According to court documents, it is estimated Canadian Tamils raise
millions of dollars annually for the Tigers, making Canada one of its
largest fundraising pools.