Seremban Jaya DAP assemblyperson P Gunasekaran and a storekeeper claimed trial at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur this morning to a total of three LTTE-linked terrorism charges.
Gunasekaran, 60 (photo, above), and S Thanagaraj, 26, pleaded not guilty when their charges were separately read out to them during proceedings before judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
The duo’s cases - Gunasekaran's one charge and Thanagaraj's two charges - were transferred from the Sessions Courts in Malacca and Butterworth, respectively.
On Oct 29 last year, Gunasekaran was charged at the Malacca Sessions Court with one count of supporting LTTE while Thanagaraj was charged at the Butterworth Sessions Court with two counts of possessing materials linked to the defunct militant group.
After the duo’s pleas were recorded today, Gunasekaran’s counsel Harshan Zamani informed Justice Nazlan that they would be filing an application for bail.
DPP Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi raised no objection to the bail application.
The bail bid followed on the heels of the same court’s ruling on Nov 29 last year, where Justice Nazlan ruled that the courts still can hear a terrorism accused’s application for bail.
The judge said this is because the provision under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, which bars the court from hearing a terrorism accused’s bail bids, is unconstitutional and invalid.
During today’s proceedings, Saifuddin informed the court that the prosecution is in the process of making a translated transcript of a video linked to Gunasekaran’s case. The language used in the video is Tamil.
Saifuddin also informed the court that in relation to Thanagaraj’s case, the prosecution is still awaiting expert reports, which include that having to do with the accused’s Apple smartphone and Facebook account, among others.
Justice Nazlan then fixed Jan 31 for the mention of the cases of both accused. Thanagaraj’s counsel was unable to attend today’s proceedings, and the forthcoming mention date is set to allow the lawyer to attend the proceeding.
Gunasekaran and Thanagaraj were among 12 individuals hauled to Sessions Courts nationwide and charged with LTTE-linked offences from Oct 29 last year.
The other 10 individuals charged are Gadek assemblyperson G Saminathan, 34; taxi driver V Balamurugan, 37, dispatch rider S Teeran, 38; scrap metal dealer A Kalaimughilan, 28; chief executive of a corporation S Chandru, 38; technician S Arivainthan, 56; security guard M Pumugan, 29; secondary school teacher Sundram Renggan @ Rengasamy, 52; DAP member V Suresh Kumar, 43; and businessperson B Subramaniam, 57. - Mkini
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