MELAKA, Dec 18 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The Sessions Court here today disallowed the bail applications of two assemblymen and a chief executive officer (CEO) who were charged last month with supporting a defunct terrorist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Judge Elesabet Paya Wan rejected the applications of Gadek assemblyman G. Saminathan, 34, Seremban Jaya assemblyman, P. Gunasekaran, 60, and CEO of a corporation, S. Chandru, 38, on the grounds that their cases involved national security.
The judge also ruled that all three men had failed to show any exceptional circumstances meriting bail.
Deputy public prosecutors Muzila Mohamed Arsad and Hayatul Wirdah Mohd Yunos appeared for the prosecution, while all three defendants were represented by lawyers Ramkarpal Singh and Damian Yeo Shen Li.
Yesterday, the judge allowed the defence to make submissions on the bail applications for all three men and also ordered the transfer of their cases to the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
Today’s proceedings follow the Nov 29 ruling of Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali which allowed Saminathan to make a bail application on the grounds that section 13 of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA) was unconstitutional, as it prohibited the courts from considering the granting of bail to a person charged with an offence under chapter 6A of the Penal Code.
On Oct 29, Saminathan, Gunasekaran and Chandru were charged with supporting the LTTE at a function held at Dewan Kasturi Ayer Keroh, Jalan Utama, Taman Ayer Keroh Heights here from 8.30 pm to 10.50 pm on Nov 28, 2018.
Saminathan was also charged with possession of items with elements of terrorism or related to the LTTE in a mobile phone at the office of the Unity, Human Resources and Consumer Affairs executive councillor at the Chief Minister’s Department at Kompleks Seri Negeri here at 10.25 am on Oct 10 this year.
— NNN-BERNAMA
