The Malaysian Insight

MIC will provide free legal aid to five suspects arrested recently for alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terror group.

MIC legal aid chief T Rajasekaran said the party is providing the assistance because the suspects could not afford their own legal representation.

“Seven lawyers representing MIC’s legal bureau will help the five LTTE suspects as per the instruction of the MIC president,” Rajasekaran told The Malaysian Insight.

“Although they cannot afford to pay, we will help them to get justice,” he said when contacted.

The seven-man legal team, headed by Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, was appointed by party president, SA Vigneswaran.

Rajasekaran added that the police had allowed the detainees to meet their families and lawyers.

“So far, I have met three of them, and will meet the rest in the coming days,” he said.

He said the men were in a state of shock over the allegations against them.

“They said they did not take part in any LTTE activities, only a remembrance event for those killed in the Sri Lankan civil war.

“They said that they were merely expressing their sympathies to the victims of the civil war, and were in no way supporting the LTTE.

“They also said the last time they took part in remembrance events was in 2014,” he added.

The lawyer also hoped the detainees will not be charged under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

“Even if they’re charged, I hope it will not be under Sosma, because the law is too strict and does not provide for bail,” he added.

“I am not sure whether they will be freed or will be taken for trial after the 28-day detention period,” he said.

“The police will prepare a report to the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the attorney-general will decide whether to go to trial or free them,” he explained.

He said the legal team had yet to decide if it would take action to seek the men’s release.

The men were part of a group of 12 people, including two DAP reps, who were arrested last week for alleged links to the now defunct Sri Lanka based terror group.

The two DAP reps are Gadek assemblyman G Saminathan and Seremban Jaya assemblyman P Gunasekaran.

All detainees are detained under Sosma, which allows for 28 days detention without charge.

Meanwhile, Saminathan and Gunasekaran are represented by party lawyers Ramkarpal Singh and RSN Rayer, who told reporters earlier this week that they will file a legal challenge against the detention of the pair.

“We will also challenge for the right to post bail, as under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) it is not permitted,” said Ramkarpal.

He also said Gunasekaran and Saminathan appeared to be in good health.

On Friday, another lawyer representing one of the 12 men arrested said he had filed a challenge against the detention.

Lawyer S Selvam said he had filed a habeas corpus application with Shah Alam High Court on Wednesday on behalf of his client, a 57-year-old restaurant operator from Sungai Buloh, Selangor.

Selvam said his client was arrested by the Bukit Aman Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division (SB-CTD) on October 10 in a dragnet against alleged activities linked to the Tamil Tigers. – October 18, 2019.