KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng has asked a parliamentary select committee on Defence and the Home Ministry to hold an emergency meeting following the arrest of seven people suspected of trying to revive a defunct Sri Lankan militant group.
The DAP lawmaker who is also a lawyer said the parliamentary watchdog must demand the police explain their use of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), a law that allows for detention without trial that the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) had promised to repeal.
“I have asked the chairman of the Select Committee, member of Parliament for Nibong Tebal Prof Madya Datuk Dr Mansor bin Othman for the said meeting to be held on an urgent basis due to the seriousness of the accusations,” he said in a statement today.
“The police will have to answer to the Select Committee the need to use Sosma, a repressive and draconian law which the Pakatan Harapan government has pledged to repeal, on the seven who can be detained without trial for up to 28 days,” Lim added.
Federal police arrested two DAP state lawmakers yesterday under a security law that allows for preventive detention, purportedly over their attendance in an alleged LTTE “Heroes Day” celebration in Melaka on November 28, 2018.
Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter-terrorism Division principal assistant director Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay told a news conference yesterday that Gadek assemblyman G. Saminathan who is also a Melaka state executive councillor and Seremban Jaya assemblyman P. Gunasekaren had “delivered speeches that contained elements that showed support towards the LTTE” and had also allegedly distributed materials related to the group.
The duo was among five other suspects nabbed in Malaysia for allegedly promoting, supporting and sourcing funds meant for the LTTE.
A number of PH have also condemned the arrest under Sosma, reminding the government of the coalition’s electoral pledge to repeal the law.
Veteran DAP MP Lim Kit Siang today reiterated in a statement that his party abhors violence and terrorism and urged for the release of the Sosma seven if they were not to be charged in court.
