Finally free: Thanagaraj embracing family members after he was acquitted and discharged at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: Two more men accused of supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorist group were acquitted and discharged by two separate High Courts here.
This means all 12 men, including two state assemblymen previously facing the same charges, have been freed.
Justices Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali issued the release order yesterday after deputy public prosecutors Mohd Farhan Aliff Ahmad and Muhammad Asyraf Min informed them that they had received instructions from the Attorney General to discontinue the proceedings against businessman B. Subramaniam, 58, and storekeeper S. Thanagaraj, 27.
Earlier, Mohd Farhan Aliff and Muhammad Asyraf applied to stop the proceedings against them in accordance with Section 254 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, and stated that there was no prospect for the charges against all the accused to be reinstated.
Lawyers S. Selvam and Gaithri Thomas representing Subramaniam, and lawyer Dr N. Ahilan representing Thanagaraj, requested for their clients to be acquitted and discharged.
Justice Mohd Nazlan said both men were acquitted and discharged under Section 254 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The duo were alleged to have supported LTTE by using their respective Facebook accounts named US SUBRA SUBRAMANIAM and Tamilarasan Sivam at the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division (E8) here between January and October last year.
They were charged under Section 130J (1) (a) of the Penal Code, which carries a life sentence or a maximum 30 years’ jail term or fine, and forfeiture of any asset used or intended to be used to commit the offences, upon conviction.
Thanagaraj was also charged with two counts of possessing items with elements of terrorist acts in his cellphone at two different locations in Penang on Oct 12 last year.
He was charged under Section 130JB (1) (a) of the Penal Code, which provides for a maximum jail term of seven years or a fine and confiscation of any such property, upon conviction.
Family members of both accused were present in court.
On Monday, the High Court acquitted and discharged Seremban Jaya assemblyman P. Gunasekaren, 61, and taxi driver V. Balamurugan, 38, on similar charges.
On Tuesday, Gadek assemblyman G. Saminathan, 35; technician S. Arivainthan, 28; security guard M. Pumugan, 30; DAP member V. Suresh Kumar, 44; Melaka Green Technology Corporation chief executive officer S. Chandru, 39; teacher Sundram Renggan @ Rengasamy, 53; scrap metal collector A. Kalaimughilan, 29; and dispatch rider S. Teeran, 39, were also acquitted and discharged by the High Court on similar charges.
All of them were previously arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and placed in Sungai Buloh Prison pending trial. Under Sosma, they are not allowed bail.
On Feb 21, Attorney General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas decided to drop all charges against the 12 accused of supporting the LTTE on grounds that “there is no realistic prospects of conviction” against any of them on any of the 34 charges brought against them. — Bernama
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