Call to return ‘gold seized from LTTE’
October 21, 2010 10:55 pm
A civil rights group has urged the Sri Lankan government to return more than four million dollars worth of gold jewellery collected following the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels.
The Civil Monitoring Committee (CMC) said the government should trace owners and return all the goods.
Chief government whip Dinesh Gunawardena told parliament on Wednesday that security forces picked up the precious items during the final months of the war against Tamil Tigers.
“The army’s 58th division and the military police found 110 kilos of gold jewellery. The value of the jewellery is about 490 million rupees (4.4 million dollars),” Minister Gunawardena said.
The valuables, “are in the process of being legally handed over to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka,” Minister Gunewardena was responding to a question tabled by opposition lawmaker Dayasiri Jayasekara.
CMC leader Mano Ganesan told BBC Sandesaya that the government has a duty to trace the real owners of the jewellery.
“Even if the military seized it from Tamil Tiger banks, the rightful owners are Tamil civilians and they have a right to get their property back,” he said.
He added that documentation on those who have pawned gold articles to LTTE banks have also been found and displayed on state media. – (BBC)
