Ramasamy: Charge those arrested for LTTE links in court
GEORGE TOWN: Penang deputy chief minister II P Ramasamy said that the seven people suspected to be involved with the defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group should not have been arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).
Speaking to reporters, Ramasamy said they should have been brought to court and charged for whatever crime they may have committed, instead of detention without trial.
Sosma allows for an arrested person to be detained for up to 28 days without trial.
Ramasamy said that the police should prosecute those arrested if they have evidence of the crime they may have committed.
Seven people, two of them state assemblymen – from Melaka and Negeri Sembilan, were arrested yesterday for alleged links to the LTTE.
Ramasamy said he was informed that the assemblymen attended a memorial to pay respects for Tamils who died during the unrest in Sri Lanka in the 1980s but did not think they were involved in LTTE activities.
He said support for the Tamils in Sri Lanka should not be misconstrued as backing LTTE.
“The LTTE is different, the Tamil cause is different,” he said.
Bernama