TWO of the 12 men who were arrested for supporting defunct terror group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were charged today, while additional charges were slapped on 10 others, who were already charged earlier this week.

At the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today, Malacca local authority councillor V. Suresh Kumar, 43, and B. Subramaniam, 57, were charged with allegedly having shared material on the LTTE on their Facebook pages.

They were charged under Section 130J(1)(a) of the Penal Code before judge Azura Alwi.

The offence carries life imprisonment or jail of up to a maximum of 30 years, or a fine. They can also have any of their properties used in the offence confiscated upon conviction. 

Meanwhile, Seremban Jaya assemblyman P. Gunasekaran and Gadek assemblyman G. Saminathan together with eight others were slapped with additional counts of supporting the terrorist organisation through their Facebook accounts as well as for possessing materials related to the group. 

The 10 had charges levelled against them earlier in the week in the separate courts in Johor, Malacca, Selangor, Perak and Penang.

The remaining eight are A. Kalaimughilan, V. Balamurugan, S. Teran, S. Chandru, R. Sundram, S. Arivainthan, M. Pumugan and S. Thanagaraj.

Today, all 12 were charged in separate courts at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex.

Several DAP leaders including Charles Santiago, M. Kula Segaran and Teresa Kok had turned up to show support.

All 12 did not have their plea recorded, as they are being detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma). A plea in a Sosma case is recorded when the matter is transferred to the high court.

Sosma also does not allow for bail.

Deputy public prosecutors Aslinda Ahad and Aliff Asraf Anuar Sharuddin prosecuted in today’s cases.

Lawyer Ramkarpal Singh represented Saminathan; counsel Omar Kutty Abdul Aziz and J.Matthews acted for Balamurugan; and, lawyer K.Murali represented Teeran and Kalaimughilan.

Ramkarpal asked that the court use its discretion to allow bail for his client, arguing that detentions under Sosma are unconstitutional.

He also requested that the bail application be referred to the high court.

The court set tomorrow for its decision. – October 31, 2019.