KUALA LUMPUR: Four men, including a state assemblyman, pleaded not guilty at two High Courts here today to charges related to the terrorist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in 2014 and 2019.
Earlier, the Sessions Court here had allowed the application of the prosecution to transfer all the cases to the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
No plea was recorded from the accused when the cases were mentioned at the Sessions Court because pleas for cases involving terrorist groups would be taken at the High Court hearing the cases.
Seremban Jaya state assemblyman P Gunasekaren, 60; DAP member V Suresh Kumar, 43; businessman B Subramaniam, 57, and scrap metal trader A Kalaimughilan, 28, claimed trial after the charges were read out to them separately in Tamil and Bahasa Malaysia in front of judges Muhammad Jamil Hussin and Mohamed Zaini Mazlan.
Gunasekaren, Suresh Kumar, Subramaniam and Kalaimughilan are accused of giving support to LTTE by using Facebook under different names of “Dap Guna Palanisamy”, “US Subra Subramaniam”, “RocketSuresh DAP” and “Kalai Mugilan”.
They allegedly committed the offences at the office of investigating officer of E8 (M) Counter-Terrorism Division, Bukit Aman Special Branch, here between Oct 7 and 11, 2019 at 2pm and 6pm.
Kalaimughilan is also facing three other LTTE-related charges of distributing items, giving support at a ceremony and giving support on the YouTube application.
For the charges of distributing items and giving support at a ceremony related to LTTE, Kalaimughilan is alleged to have committed the offences at Dewan Tan Sri Soma, Wisma Tun Sambanthan, Jalan Sultan Sulaiman, Kampung Attap, here between 8pm and 11.30pm on March 17, 2014.
For the charge of distributing items related to terrorists, he was charged under Section 130J (1)(b) of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of up to seven years or fine and forfeiture of the items concerned.
For the charge of giving support via YouTube, Kalaimugilan is alleged to have committed the offence at Level 24, E8 Division (Counter-Terrorism), Special Branch, Bukit Aman, here at 10am on June 2, 2014.
For the charges of giving support, they were all charged under Section 130J (1)(a) of the Penal Code, which provides for a life sentence or maximum 30 years’ jail or fine and the forfeiture of any property used or intended to be used for committing the offence, on conviction.
Judge Muhammad Jamil set Jan 20 for case management for Gunasekaran, Jan 15 for Suresh Kumar and Subramaniam and Jan 3 for Kalaimughilan.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutors Rohaiza Abd Rahman and Aslinda Ahad.
In MELAKA, the Sessions Court today disallowed the bail applications of two assemblymen and a CEO who were charged last month with supporting LTTE.
Judge Elesabet Paya Wan rejected the applications of Gadek assemblyman G Saminathan, 34, Seremban Jaya assemblyman P Gunasekaran, 60, and CEO of a corporation S Chandru, 38, on the grounds that their cases involved national security.
The judge also ruled that all three men had failed to show any exceptional circumstances meriting bail.
Deputy public prosecutors Muzila Mohamed Arsad and Hayatul Wirdah Mohd Yunos appeared for the prosecution, while all three defendants were represented by lawyers Ramkarpal Singh and Damian Yeo Shen Li.
Yesterday, the judge allowed the defence to make submissions on the bail applications for all three men and also ordered the transfer of their cases to the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
Today’s proceedings follow the Nov 29 ruling of Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali which allowed Saminathan to make a bail application on the grounds that section 13 of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) was unconstitutional, as it prohibited the courts from considering the granting of bail to a person charged with an offence under chapter 6A of the Penal Code.
On Oct 29, Saminathan, Gunasekaran and Chandru were charged with supporting the LTTE at a function held at Dewan Kasturi Ayer Keroh, Jalan Utama, Taman Ayer Keroh Heights here from 8.30pm to 10.50pm on Nov 28, 2018.
Saminathan was also charged with possession of items with elements of terrorism or related to the LTTE in a mobile phone at the office of the Unity, Human Resources and Consumer Affairs executive councillor at the Chief Minister’s Department at Kompleks Seri Negeri here at 10.25am on Oct 10 this year. - FMT
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