Gadek assemblyperson G Saminathan's wife Umar Devi (above) has urged for a decision to be reached before Thursday on her husband, who has been detained without trial under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, over purported links to the defunct Sri Lankan rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"We will have a hearing on our habeas corpus (suit) next Thursday. I hope we will not need the court to decide on this.
"Once the investigation is done and there is no problem, please let them go.
"So before Thursday, I ask that we will get the best answer from the authorities," Umar Devi told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters today.
She and her one-year-old son, as well as the siblings and parents of Saminathan, had just come out of the station after a one-and-a-half-hour visit with the Melaka assemblyperson in light of the Deepavali celebration.
Though the police had initially said they would be given two hours with Saminathan (above), she said they only spent an hour plus for the visit as they had to make way for other detainees whose family members had also come to visit them for Deepavali.
She said she had brought some thosai and murukku for Saminathan for the visit.
Her husband had lost a lot of weight since he was first arrested 17 days ago and his beard was unkempt, she said, adding that it was especially sad as it was Deepavali where one would usually dress one's best to celebrate it.
"It's so bad," she said, with tears in her eyes, when asked how it felt to be celebrating Deepavali without her husband this year.
She said, as an elected representative, he was usually very busy serving his constituents.
Deepavali is the one day they get to spend together as a family, as they would go to the temple and have food together, she said.
Now, they would have to wait till next year for their family time, she added.
Aside from Saminathan, DAP's Seremban Jaya assemblyperson P Gunasekaran was also detained, along with former and current members of DAP, PKR and PAS.
The LTTE, which fought against the Sri Lankan government for the independence of its Tamil-majority region, was defeated in 2009.
The Tamil cause in Sri Lanka receives sympathy from the Tamil diaspora, but the LTTE is considered by Malaysia to be a terrorist organisation.
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