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Tuesday, December 10, 2019

LTTE-linked terrorism support charges vague, say detained DAP reps



DAP’s elected representatives G Saminathan (above, left) and P Gunasekaran (above, right) contended that the terrorism charges against them for alleged support of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were too vague and did not state the details of the offence involving the defunct militant group.
These were among the reasons cited by Gadek assemblyperson Saminathan and Seremban Jaya assemblyperson Gunasekaran in their applications for bail filed at the Ayer Keroh Sessions Court Registry last week.
Dated Dec 4, the duo’s Notices of Motion were filed following the major Kuala Lumpur High Court ruling on Nov 29 that those charged with a security offence still deserved to have their bail bid heard by the courts, despite being earlier detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012.
On Nov 29, judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali ruled that Section 13 of Sosma, which prohibited courts from granting bail in security offences cases, violates the doctrine of separation of powers between the judiciary, the legislature and the executive, thus making the provision unconstitutional for usurping the court’s power to grant or deny bail.

The filings of the duo’s bail applications were confirmed by their counsel Sangeet Kaur Deo recently.
According to copies of the duo’s affidavits in support made available to Malaysiakini, Saminathan and Gunasekaran said that the charges did not reveal in-depth details on the alleged offences on how they supported LTTE, other than stating that the duo gave support to the militant group in a ceremony (majlis) at Dewan Kasturi, Ayer Keroh, on Nov 28 last year.
“Without prejudice to my right to apply to strike out the charges on grounds among others, that the charges are vague and did not reveal any offence, I was advised by my counsel, the advice which I believe is accurate and true, that I would be very prejudiced if not allowed bail, as it is clear among others, that mere attendance of a ceremony would most definitely not amount to an offence,” Saminathan said.
He said the vaguely-worded charge strengthened the notion that he was not guilty of the charge and this needs to be considered as among the factors for the Sessions Court to consider granting him bail in relation to his terrorism charge.
The above line of reasoning was also adopted by Gunasekaran in relation to purportedly giving support to LTTE at the same event.
Saminathan and Gunasekaran contended they should be granted bail because even if they are convicted of the charges, there is a major possibility they would only be penalised with a fine as LTTE is no longer active and clearly does not pose a threat to Malaysia’s security.
“I was advised by my lawyer that if I were to only be sentenced to a fine at the end of the trial, then it would be very prejudicial to me and my family if I am not allowed bail while awaiting trial.
“Furthermore, I am advised by my counsel, that Sosma provides for the court to remand me until the disposal of all appeals process to the Federal Court, even if I am acquitted and discharged by this honourable (sessions) court that may take several years (period of time),” said Saminathan. A similar line of argument was adopted by Gunasekaran.
They added that if they are not allowed bail, not only would they lose several years of their freedom while under remand but only to be hit with a fine, but that their lives would also be endangered due to their individual health concerns.
Saminathan said this is because he suffered from several ailments like gastritis with black stool, acute gastric ulcer and cervical lymphadenitis, which requires immediate treatment at Putra Specialist Hospital.
The Malacca exco member claimed he was currently only placed at Bilik Tawakkal at Sungai Buloh prison, which he said was inadequate to treat his ailments, and his condition has deteriorated.
A similar line of reasoning was adopted by Gunasekaran, whereby he said that he was also placed at Bilik Tawakkal, which did not provide adequate treatment for his ailments like diabetes, which he suffered since 2013 and required treatment at Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.
Gunasekaran also said his current detention at Sungai Buloh prison did not provide him with adequate treatment for his frozen shoulder condition, which requires constant medication to alleviate the severe pain.
Saminathan and Gunasekaran (below) also argued that the court needed to grant bail for them to serve their constituencies and avoid a situation where their constituencies were denied their services due to their remand.
Both applicants contended they have no past criminal record and their respective contributions and services to their constituencies would prove that they would not abscond if allowed bail, in light of bail having the purpose of ensuring the accused to attend court proceedings.
The duo also assured the court that they are willing to abide by any bail conditions that the court may see fit to impose, such as the wearing of electronic monitoring devices, the need for them to report to police stations weekly or any other period decided, and the surrendering of their passports to the court for the duration of their court cases.
Saminathan, 34, and Gunasekaran, 60, were among 12 individuals charged for LTTE-linked offences nationwide from Oct 29 onwards.
The others are taxi driver V Balamurugan, 37; dispatch rider S Teeran, 38; scrap metal dealer A Kalaimughilan, 28; the chief executive of a corporation S Chandru, 38; technician S Arivainthan, 56; storekeeper S Thanagaraj, 26; security guard M Pumugan, 29; secondary school teacher Sundram Renggan @ Rengasamy, 52; DAP member V Suresh Kumar, 43; and businessperson B Subramaniam, 57.
On Oct 29 at the Ayer Keroh Sessions Court, Saminathan, Gunasekaran, and Chandru were charged over their purported links to LTTE.
The charges are related to supporting the LTTE and possessing and displaying items linked to the group, all under Section 130J of the Penal Code pertaining to soliciting or giving support to terrorist groups or for the commission of terrorist acts.
Saminathan, Gunasekaran, and Chandru were alleged to commit the offence during an event at Dewan Kasturi Ayer Keroh at Taman Ayer Keroh Heights in Malacca on Nov 28 last year.
Besides Saminathan and Gunasekaran, Malaysiakini also reported that Subramaniam had on Nov 29, immediately after Nazlan’s ruling, filed his own bail application at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court Registry. - Mkini

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