TEN individuals were charged separately in five states today with possessing items and materials related to defunct Sri Lankan terror group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The charges for all 10 men were framed under Section 130JB(1)(a) of the Penal Code which provides for a penalty of a maximum seven years in jail or a fine, upon conviction.

The Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism division arrested a dozen men in total on October 10 and 12 over alleged links to the LTTE. The 12 were detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

The remaining two men are expected to be charged in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Today’s proceedings took place in the sessions courts in Selayang, Sepang, Ayer Keroh, Kuala Kangsar, Segamat and Butterworth where no pleas were recorded by the accused. All 10 men were denied bail.

In Selayang, 28-year-old scrap metal dealer, A. Kalaimughilan, was accused of committing two terrorism-related offences in a car and a house in Rawang, both on October 10, between 9am and noon.

In Sepang, a 52 year-old teacher, R. Sundram, who teaches at the Telok Panglima Garang High School, was accused of keeping materials related to LTTE.

At the Ayer Keroh Sessions Court in Malacca, two DAP state reps and the Green Technology Corporation CEO, were charged with the same offence.

Seremban Jaya assemblyman P. Gunasekaran, Gadek assemblyman G. Saminathan, and S. Chandru were accused of committing the offence last year at an event at the Dewan Kasturi Ayer Keroh in Taman Ayer Keroh Heights, Malacca.

Saminanthan was also charged with possession of an item linked to the LTTE, at the Malacca chief minister’s department.

The trio were represented by five lawyers led by DAP national legal bureau chief Ramkarpal Singh.

The three were taken to the Sungai Buloh Prison in Selangor after their bail applications were rejected by Justice Elasabet Paya Wan.

In Kuala Kangsar, S. Arivainthan, 27, and V. Balamurugan, 37, were accused of declaring support for LTTE last year at the Kuala Kangsar City Council Hall .

Arivainthan is a technician and Balamurugan, a taxi driver.

Arivainthan was represented by Jelutong MP RSN Rayer, while Matthews Jude and Farhan Fadzil represented Balamurugan.

In Segamat, S. Teran, a despatch rider at a law firm, was charged with possessing LTTE-related materials at a house in Kampung Paya Pulai.

In Penang, two men were separately charged with possessing LTTE-related materials.

M. Pumugan, 29 and S. Thanagaraj, 26, were represented by lawyer N. Ahilan.

Ahilan asked that Pumugan be granted bail as he suffers from epilepsy and needs medical care. However, the two were denied bail and the court fixed Dec 16 for mention.

Police said the individuals have been promoting, recruiting and channelling funds to the group’s diaspora abroad.

A habeas corpus was filed by five men to challenge their detention under Sosma. The application was filed last Tuesday and the hearing is scheduled on Thursday.

On Deepavali last Sunday, the families were allowed to visit the at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters. – October 29, 2019.