Appeal to lift LTTE’s proscription in Europe rejected

The General Court of the European Union has rejected an appeal to lift the proscription of the LTTE as an international terrorist organisation within Europe.

The petitioners, the European Political Subdivision of the LTTE based in Denmark, were ordered to pay their own legal costs and those incurred by the Council of the European Union.

They had applied to annul the relisting of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation by the European Council in January 2019.

The European Council had held that in 2019 that the LTTE’s “international fundraising and revival capacities remained” despite its military defeat ten years earlier.

The LTTE was first listed as a terrorist organisation by the EU in 2006.

The EU’s position against the LTTE was supported by the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

The Court held that the existence of an armed conflict within the meaning of international humanitarian law and EU law does not exclude the prevention of terrorism.

The Court rejected multiple pleas lodged by the LTTE branch in Denmark before dismissing the action in full.

The Court said that the objective of the European Union and its Member States is to combat terrorism, whatever form it may take, in accordance with the objectives of current international law.