PETALING JAYA, Feb 21 (NNN) — Charges against 12 Malaysians on their alleged links to Sri Lanka’s defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will be dropped immediately, says Attorney General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas.
In a 11-page statement today, Thomas said there were no realistic prospect of conviction for any of the 12 accused on any of the 34 charges against them.
He said the common factor among the 12 was that all had the pictures of the slain leaders of the former terrorist group in their phones or Facebook accounts.
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“Each of them had in his mobile phone or Facebook account photos of (Velupillai) Prabhakaran and other leaders of LTTE slain during the Civil War in Sri Lanka.
“If such conduct can constitute a criminal offence, it would bring the law into disrepute.
“Accordingly, in the exercise of my discretion pursuant to Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution, I have decided to discontinue proceedings against them with immediate effect.
“But even if there were elements of a ‘terrorist act’ on the part of all or any of the 12 accused of possessing, distributing or displaying such photos of Prabhakaran, it would be impossible for the prosecution to establish that they do not fall within the excluded category of Section 130B(4) of the Penal Code in that they merely constitute ‘advocacy, protest or dissent’.
“It is commonplace to have idols to whom hero worship is displayed. It is not just pop stars, sportsmen or actors who are admired: historical personalities and politicians are often the subject of adoration.
“Thus, millions of people across the globe admire Lenin, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung or Che Guevara, and the like.
“Having their photos and other representations in one’s mobile phone or on a Facebook account does not transform one to being a terrorist.
“Just because each of these leaders used terror or violence to achieve their political goals does not mean that an ardent supporter online should be regarded as a terrorist or is planning a terrorist act.”
There must be sufficient evidence for prosecution to establish the case, he said.