LTTE 12 to be produced in court prior to release

The 12 individuals who were charged with supporting the defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) including Gadek assemblyperson G Saminathan and Seremban Jaya assemblyperson P Gunasekaren will be brought to court before being released.

A prosecution source said that the prosecution will inform the court of the decision by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas to stop proceedings against the accused during case mention.

The source said the prosecution would also apply to the court to withdraw the charges against the accused and seek their discharge and acquittal.

"This is the procedure,” the source said, adding that the court has to set the mention date for the case and the accused will be brought to court to be released.

The source, however, said so far, the prosecution has yet to obtain a date for mention of the case.

Thomas in an 11-page media statement, decided that there was no realistic prospect to convict the 12 men of the offence over the 34 charges filed against them.

"As such, in exercising my discretionary authority under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution, I decide to stop proceedings against them immediately,” he said.

The 12 accused are DAP member V Suresh Kumar, 44; businessman B Subramaniam, 58; storekeeper S Thanagaraj, 27; Saminathan, 35; Gunasekaren, 61; Melaka Green Technology Corporation chief executive officer S Chandru, 39; technician S Arivainthan, 28; security guard M Pumugan 30; secondary school teacher Sundram Renggan @ Rengasamy, 53; taxi driver V Balamurugan, 38; scrap metal collector A Kalaimughilan, 29 and despatch rider S Teeran, 39.

They were detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and were placed in the Sungai Buloh Prison while awaiting trial. Under Sosma, they are not allowed bail.

Among others, they were charged with supporting LTTE at an occasion, giving support to the group on social media as well as possessing and distributing materials relating to LTTE.

All their cases were transferred to the High Court here and are still awaiting case management. However, the High Court had fixed trial for the cases. 

- Bernama

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