Eight men, including Gadek assemblyperson G Saminathan, were today acquitted and discharged in separate high courts in Kuala Lumpur today on charges related to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorist group.
Justices Muhammad Jamil Hussin and Collin Lawrence Sequerah, as well as judicial commissioners Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh and Aslam Zainuddin, made the ruling after deputy public prosecutors informed that the Attorney-General had instructed to discontinue proceedings against all the accused, in accordance with Section 254 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Besides Saminathan, 35, the other seven are technician S Arivainthan, 28; security guard M Pumugan, 30; DAP member V Suresh Kumar, 44; Malacca Green Technology Corporation chief executive officer S Chandru, 39; teacher Sundram Renggan @ Rengasamy, 53; scrap metal collector A Kalaimughilan, 29 and despatch rider S Teeran, 39.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutors Mohd Farhan Aliff Ahmad, Muhammad Asyraf Minhad, Mohd Izhanudin Alias and Mohamad Nuzul Azuar Zulkifli asked the court to discontinue the proceedings on the grounds that there was no prospect to reinstate the same charges against the accused.
Lawyers Ramkarpal Singh dan Harshaan Zamani, representing Saminathan, Arivainthan and Suresh Kumar; lawyer N Ahilan, acting on behalf of Pumugan and lawyer A Mathan, representing Chandru, Sundram, Kalaimughilan and Teeran then requested for their clients to be acquitted and discharged.
The four Justices acquitted and discharged all the accused after allowing the defence’s application as the prosecution did not wish to proceed with the case.
All of them were separately charged with knowingly supporting the LTTE terrorist group on Facebook.
They were alleged to have committed the offence at the Bukit Aman Special Branch (Counter-Terrorism) in Kuala Lumpur between Oct 5 and 11, 2019.
The charge, under Section 130J (1) (a) of the Penal Code, carries a maximum jail term of 30 years, or a fine, and forfeiture of any property used or intended to be used for the offence, upon conviction.
Four of them - Saminathan (above), Arivainthan, Chandru and Kalaimughilan, were also charged with giving support to LTTE by attending the group's related event in Malacca, Perak and Kuala Lumpur between 2014 and 2018.
Saminathan, Pumugan, Chandru, Sundram, Kalaimughilan and Teeran were also charged with possessing LTTE-related items at different locations in Rawang, Selangor; Kompleks Seri Negeri, Malacca and Seberang Perai Tengah, Penang between Oct 10 and 12, 2019.
The charge was framed under Section 130JB (1) (a) of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of seven years, or a fine, and forfeiture of any of the items if convicted.
The family members of all the accused were also present at the courts.
Yesterday, Seremban Jaya assemblyperson P Gunasekaren and taxi driver V Balamurugan were also acquitted and discharged from the same charges.
All of them were detained under Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and were placed in Sungai Buloh prison pending their trials.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas on Feb 21 decided to discontinue proceedings against the 12 on the grounds that there was no realistic prospect of conviction for any of them on any of the 34 charges brought against them.
- Bernama
