LTTE 12 - Tommy Thomas paints a bull's-eye on his back

“Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government.”

- Edward Bernays

The attorney-general’s decision to discontinue proceedings against the LTTE 12 is welcome news. While the Bar Council rightly asks why charges were brought against the 12 in the first place and numerous political operatives have been expressing their relief at such a conclusion, a darker narrative is taking shape.

Already my inbox and phone have been inundated with messages from people crying foul about this decision. A well-known far-right personality called me up and wondered if Tommy Thomas (above) had “signalled” to the Indian community that these “terrorists” were going to be freed beforehand? Yes, the Indian community has our super-secret telepathy which we use to communicate amongst ourselves.

Another (Islamist) lectured me about the injustice of Muslim terrorists detained by the state when these “Indian” terrorists were set free. I suppose his argument is that we should not arrest any terrorist and leave them to carry out their plots without any interference.

Thomas was always in an extremely messed-up position. Let’s drop the politically correct kumbaya for a moment, shall we? When Thomas became the AG, the far-right and agents of the fascist state went berserk. This was exactly the kind of doomsday scenario of an “Indian” AG in charge that they envisioned.

If the AG went ahead with these horse manure charges, he would have been vilified by the minority communities and the far-right would have used him as further evidence that the non-Malays could not handle it when members of their own community were charged with terrorism-related activities. Hence, all these communist and LTTE narratives being peddled at the moment.

If the AG dropped the charges, his ethnicity would be used against him. Already we have public personalities like the Malaysian Muslim Solidarity movement (Isma) president calling for the “public” to ask for the AG's resignation. Isma head honcho Haji Aminuddin Yahaya said this: “Ini sudah tentu memberikan mesej yang salah kepada rakyat yang menampakkan semua isu yang membabitkan penyokong DAP terlepas walhal kita yakin polis tidak akan tangkap tanpa ada bukti yang cukup.

“Apakah negara sedang menuju ke era keganasan dengan terbebasnya suspek-suspek yang terkait dengan organisasi pengganas dengan mudah sebegini? Masih selamat lagikah negara kita ini?”

Haji Aminuddin Yahaya

Keep in mind that Aminuddin also writes for Malaysiakini and his last column was about how the DAP was using local council elections: “Semestinya ini kerana mereka melihat ini sebagai peluang untuk menguntungkan kaum mereka. MCA dan DAP berpolitik dan berstrategi untuk kepentingan dan agenda kaum, bukannya parti semata-mata.”

The LTTE 12 was always supposed to be a counter-narrative to Islamic terrorism and, of course, a convenient method to muzzle dissent. Please refer to my earlier article where DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang reminds us of this when he eloquently dissected the actions of former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail in the "Batu Caves 31" attempted murder case:

"What was the justification for the attorney-general leading the attack on Hindraf for its alleged terrorist links? Yesterday, Gani said his linking Hindraf to the LTTE in his argument at the Shah Alam Sessions Court on Wednesday was based on a police report. He said: 'Somebody lodged a police report that there are grounds that these people have been going out to (establish) contact with this LTTE'."

But forget about public personalities who are just the start of a propaganda campaign against the current AG. As reported in the Straits Times, an “intelligence source” said: "All our time and effort have gone to waste. We had a hunch that this would happen, especially when he (Mr Thomas) decided to drop the charges against Gunasekaran. But it's still very upsetting," the source said. 

"Since the very beginning, Mr Thomas was quite reluctant to charge them, especially the two DAP lawmakers, even though we have presented him with enough evidence to try them in court. Fighting terrorism will be harder now since this case has set a precedent."

Notice the similarity in the point this source raised and the kind of polemics coming from Yahaya and those who are aghast at the AG’s decision. This idea that the state security apparatus had put in time and effort to build a case only to have it thrown out by the AG.

I, too, have my own sources and while they may not be as stellar as the Straits Times', my sources tell me that they have no idea why they were wasting time on this when there are threats out there who pose a clear and present danger to this country. My sources tell me that all this has done is open the state security apparatus to allegations of torture and conspiracy theories which makes their job all the more difficult.

And then there are the false equivalency ploys like the one lawyer M Hafiz Zainol Abidin is propagating. Abidin is hoping to use this “reasoning” for the benefit of his Islamic State clients: "Today, the AG in his decision to discontinue proceedings against 12 suspects linked to LTTE, cited that having materials like photos and other representations of a terrorist do not make the supporter regarded as one or is planning a terrorist act."

Well, that’s swell. Maybe he has clients who idol worship IS terrorists and have pictures of them for who-knows-what purposes. But he also has clients who were intent on causing harm to citizens of this country. In 2017, Hafiz represented a father and son in their appeal to reduce their 12-year sentence for their involvement in a criminal conspiracy to promote terrorism in Malaysia. Their appeal was rejected.

As reported in the Borneo Post, “The DPP pointed out that Abu Daud had incited terrorist acts by planning to create chaos in the country, planning to kidnap some of the country’s leaders and to raid army camps for weapons. 

"During a meeting in Pendang on Jan 30, 2015, Murad Halimmuddin, his son and a few other individuals pledged to recruit at least 20 people to launch jihad in Malaysia. Abu Daud had also suggested at the meeting that they kidnap a few of the country’s leaders in exchange for certain individuals detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma).”

So, this false equivalency between the IS and the now-defunct LTTE is going to gain more momentum and the AG is going to be hardpressed to justify not taking action against people who idol worship IS terrorists but who have – so far – not planned anything against this country. Do you see how dangerous this situation is, especially when we have an Indian provocateur lurking in the background?

If I was paranoid, I would argue that all is going according to plan.

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. A retired barrister-at-law, he is one of the founding members of Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan. - Mkini