Jothiravi Sittampalam was sent back to Sri Lanka after a lengthy battle with the Canadian government, which had been trying to deport him for nearly 10 years.
The 40-year-old Sittampalam had long been slated for deportation because of a 1996 cocaine trafficking conviction and the fact the government had grounds to believe he was involved with A.K. Kannan -- a defunct Tamil street gang that Toronto police say he once led -- during the 1990s.
His Toronto lawyer, Barbara Jackman, told CTV.ca in a telephone interview that the government began removal proceedings against her client in the fall of 2001. They issued a removal order three years later, but did not actually remove him from the country until June 11 of this year.
After Sittampalam was deported, the Canadian government issued a June 21 press release with Public Safety Minister Vic Toews welcoming the removal of "this violent gang leader." Immigration Minister Jason Kenney described Sittampalam as being a type of "particularly violent" criminal.
Jackman said that while Sittampalam has admitted involvement in some criminal activities, he has denied being the leader of the Tamil street gang and he was never convicted of any violent offences.
Five days after the press release was issued, Sittampalam was arrested by Sri Lankan police in the town of Karavettia and brought to a location in Colombo -- the fourth floor of the Criminal Investigation Division -- which has an infamous reputation for torture.
Jackman is accusing the government of purposely stirring up trouble for her client in Sri Lanka by issuing a high-profile press release announcing Sittampalam's deportation -- and possibly of giving information to Sri Lankan officials in the past suggesting that he was a fundraiser for the Tamil Tigers, also known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
According to a receipt on arrest from Sri Lanka's Minsitry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order, Sittampalam was arrested for "leading A.K. Kannan gang in Canada and found raising (sic) for LTTE."
Jackman has filed a submission to the Federal Court of Canada asking to reopen her client's case -- and if successful, bring Sittampalam back to Canada.
"We want the new evidence to be before the court, and ultimately if he succeeds in court we want him brought back," Jackman said in a separate interview on her client's case with The Canadian Press earlier this week.
A hearing on that matter was originally expected Thursday, though Jackman told CTV.ca via email that it will now be rescheduled.
Meanwhile, the deported man's wife, Pushpalatha Rajaratnam, is "really nervous" about speaking to the media about the predicament her husband is in, Jackman said.
Rajaratnam is now living in Ajax with the couple's two young daughters, though she has not told them about what has happened to their father.
"The kids are not in the loop in terms of what's going in Sri Lanka," said Jackman, who noted they were "very upset" when they were told Sittampalam had to leave.
The deported man's nephew, Shathesh Kuhendrarajah, told CTV.ca in a brief phone interview that whatever trouble his uncle had with the law in Canada has been dealt with.
"He's gone through so many hurdles just to try and be with his family," Kuhendrarajah said Wednesday.
For the government "to pluck him out of our family is just unfair."
With files from The Canadian Press
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