Colombo, July 27 (newsin.asia): The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) remains banned in the European Union even as the European Court of Justice ordered the lifting of the ban on procedural grounds.
The EU said in a press release on Wednesday, that the judgment is a “legal ruling on the procedure used for listing the LTTE and does not involve any assessment of the substantive reasons for the designation of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation.”
Therefore, “the European Union continues to consider the LTTE as a terrorist organisation and the EU’s restrictive measures against the LTTE remain in force,” it added.
Explaining the technical reason for the continuation of the ban, the EU statement said that the “annulled measures covered the period 2011-2015. Designations of the LTTE adopted by the Council later in 2015-2017 were not covered by the present ruling.”
“This means that the LTTE remains listed as a terrorist organisation by the EU,” the statement asserted.
However it added that the EU will study the judgement and “remedial action will be taken to adjust the listings to these procedural requirements and to ensure legally robust designations.”
(The featured picture at the top shows European Tamils demonstrating in support of the LTTE)
