News

Alleged assassin ordered released: Detained for two years: Delays in Tamil's case force Immigration to let
him go
Stewart Bell
National Post
796 words
7 July 2000
National Post
FINP
National
A02
English
(c) National Post 2000. All Rights Reserved.
A Toronto man who has been identified as an assassin for the Tamil Tigers terrorist group, a leader of a violent
ethnic gang as well as a danger to the Canadian public, has been ordered set free at the request of Canadian
immigration authorities.

Niranjan Claude Fabian has been in custody since 1998 awaiting deportation to his native Sri Lanka. But this
week a senior immigration official recommended his release, saying he had been detained for two years and
there was no indication when the case might end.

Faced with a call for Mr. Fabian's release from the immigration department itself, the adjudicator hearing the case
had no choice but to order his release, Paul Hardy, spokesman for the Immigration and Refugee Board, said
yesterday.

Bill Willoughby, the adjudicator, said Mr. Fabian had "been detained for a very long time.

"We can't predict when you're going to be dealt with conclusively, so this really shouldn't go on if we can find
some kind of potentially effective bond."

The immigration department must justify the detention of deportees at monthly hearings.

After arriving in Canada in 1990, Mr. Fabian joined the VVT, an ethnic Tamil gang that police say is an
enforcement and fundraising arm for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Sri Lankan terrorist group that has
killed politicians and civilians in its quest for independence.

On March 25, 1998, Mr. Fabian was convicted of conspiring to forge a Canadian passport, conspiring to commit
assault causing bodily harm, and attempting to obstruct justice. During sentencing, the judge said Mr. Fabian
"was prepared in order to protect his interest in the illicit trade of passports, to go so far as to resort to violence, in
which innocent third parties could have been harmed.

"The full extent of his criminal activities and his criminal mindset discloses very little respect for the law."

A 1998 report by the Toronto police Tamil Task Force, which alleged Toronto was home to as many as 8,000
trained Tamil guerrillas, identified Mr. Fabian as a "former assassin for the LTTE and now second or third in
command of the VVT." The RCMP also identified him as a VVT "leader" in a 1998 search warrant.

After completing his criminal sentence, Mr. Fabian was declared a danger to the public and ordered deported. At
the time, an immigration officer wrote that even if Mr. Fabian might face "harsh or inhuman treatment" if deported,
"the risks that Mr. Fabian represents to the Canadian public as a result of the nature and seriousness of his
criminal involvement far outweigh his risks upon return to Sri Lanka."

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Mr. Fabian appealed to the Federal Court of Canada, but the judge dismissed the case last November. But that
ruling was overturned on appeal in January. The judges said he should be allowed to remain in Canada until the
court has dealt with his latest appeal, in which he argues his deportation is a violation of the Charter of Rights.

Although the immigration department has declared Mr. Fabian a public danger, it was a senior department official
who called for his release, saying he had been in immigration custody for a length of time that exceeded his
criminal sentence and that he was remorseful and co-operative.

The judge ordered him to post a $20,000 performance bond and $15,000 cash deposit. He also imposed a 7 p.m.
to 6 a.m. curfew, ordered him to live at the residence of Nalanthi Kanathasan and told him not to associate with
criminals or possess weapons. He has not yet met the conditions but he told the adjudicator his brother, a Nortel
engineer, will provide the money and his sister will use her condominium for the bond.

The decision comes as Canada is under increasing pressure to curb terrorist support activities. The Canadian
Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP have warned that the Tamil Tigers have established extensive
fundraising networks in Canada that are being used to collect money to finance civil war.

The National Post has documented how Tamil Tiger supporters in Canada raise funds through migrant
smuggling, passport fraud, organized crime, front organizations and rallies at Toronto-area public schools
featuring men in camouflage uniforms carrying mock assault rifles.

A report by the U.S. State Department named the World Tamil Movement and the Federation of Associations of
Tamil Canadians as fronts for the Tamil Tigers.

Angry at Ottawa's apparent soft treatment of the Tamil Tigers, a group of Sri Lankan Americans, the Organizing
Committee Against Canadian Terrorism, are to demonstrate outside Canada's consulate in Los Angeles today.

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