Suresh Sriskandarajah is a Canadian citizen who pleaded guilty to U.S. charges of conspiring to provide material support to the Tamil Tigers, a Sri Lankan terrorist organization. He was sentenced to two years in U.S. prison.
Suresh is now studying law at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto, Canada. His areas of interests include technology law and business law. Suresh serves as Senior Fellow of IP Innovation Clinic, where he assists technology ventures to file patents and trademarks in collaboration with Norton Rose Fulbright LLP. Suresh also volunteers as Dean's Scribe, Osgoode Ambassador, Peer Mentor and Clinical Education Committee member at Osgoode Hall.
Suresh was born in Sri Lanka. In 1989 his family fled to Montreal to avoid the violent civil war taking place in the northern part of the country. At a young age, Suresh ranked 3rd in 3000m race at Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships.
In 2004, Suresh returned to Sri Lanka to help set up a technology training centre in the rebel capital, Kilinochchi. While he was there, he volunteered at an orphanage on the island's east coast but on Boxing Day 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed all but 20 of the 170 children. Suresh helped bury their bodies.
According to U.S. prosecutors, in 2004 Suresh used Hotmail, a US company, to communicate regarding the Tamil Tigers. They alleged that this violated US law even though it did not violate any Canadian law since the Tamil Tigers were not banned in Canada at that time.
Suresh was arrested in 2006 by Canadian authorities at the request of US authorities. There is an extradition treaty between USA and Canada which makes it relatively easy to extradite its citizen without having to submit all the evidence. He was released on bail pending his extradition challenges which was heard by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2012. Shortly after being extradited to USA, Suresh pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2 years in prison.
Interestingly, the Sri Lankan government sent a diplomatic note to ask U.S. to abandon the prosecution against Suresh "in light of his publicly recognized efforts to secure a lasting, peaceful reconciliation for the Tamil people" wrote Judge Raymond Dearie of the U.S. District Court. "Given the history of Sri Lanka's prolonged and bitter conflict, the request is indeed an extraordinary initiative that evidences Suresh's legitimate and admirable work to secure a lasting and just resolution of the tragic conflict." The civil war in Sri Lanka came to a bloody end when the Tamil Tigers were defeated in 2009 along with a heavy civilian casualty.
While he was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in Brooklyn, he continued his academic studies, earning paralegal and alternative dispute resolution certificates from Adams State University in Colorado and completing more than 40 Bible study courses. He also wrote his law school exams, and tutored 156 inmates to write their high school equivalency and English as a second language tests.
Suresh has a background in law, innovation and entrepreneurship. He has worked for leading companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Blackberry. Suresh has operated 3 technology ventures and worked with the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship to mentor over 40 technology start-ups. He received his BASc in Electrical Engineering and BA in Liberal Studies from the University of Waterloo. Suresh also obtained his MBA in Strategic Management from the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University, where he was recipient of CIBC Leaders in Entrepreneurship Award presented by the University's President. As a JD candidate in Law, he completed his first year studies at the University of Ottawa prior to transferring to Osgoode Hall Law School.
Video Suresh Sriskandarajah
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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