KUALA LUMPUR: A habeas corpus application by five people arrested over their alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) seeking for their release was dismissed by the High Court here, today.
The five detainees, who are being held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 or Sosma, are Melaka state executive councillor G. Saminathan, 34; Negri Sembilan assemblyman P. Gunasekaran, 60; DAP members V Suresh Kumar and S Chandru, as well as S. Arivainthan, who is not a party member.
Judicial commissioner Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh made the decision after ruling that the application has become academic since the five have been charged in court.
“It is not a disputed fact that the applicants (five detainees) have been charged.
“This is no longer a live issue, therefore, the application is dismissed,” said Ahmad Shahrir.
Earlier, senior federal counsel Muhammad Sinti, who acted for the respondents, raised a preliminary objection to have the habeas corpus application struck out.
He said the applicants’ detention was no longer under Sosma but under the Sessions Court’s order ever since they were charged.
“It was clear enough that the application has become academic and the court will not act in vain by hearing the application.
“The nature of the application is for the release of the applicants and since the applicants have been charged, the issue on unlawful detention no longer arises,” he said.
Meanwhile, counsel Ram Karpal Singh, who represented the applicants, argued that his clients’ arrests and detentions are unlawful since it was stated in the charge sheet that the offences were committed after their arrests.
On Oct 31, the five applicants were among 12 people charged with pledging their support to LTTE by using their respective social media platforms – Facebook and YouTube – at the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division (E8), last month.
The five applicants named Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division (E8) principal assistant director Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, Inspector Jasveer Singh (the officer who arrested them), Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador, the Home Ministry and the government of Malaysia as respondents.
In the application, they sought for an order that their detention under Section 5(1)a of the Sosma 2012 between Oct 10 and 12, issued by the second respondent (Jasveer) and executed under the supervision of the first respondent (Ayob Khan) at the Royal Malaysian Police Headquarters in Bukit Aman, here, was null and void.
They also sought a writ of habeas corpus to be issued by the court for immediate release from detention.
They alleged that their detention violated the principles of equal rights and that they did not have the right of access to a lawyer at the time of the incident.
Earlier this month, 12 people were arrested on suspicion of supporting and channelling funds to the LTTE, which has been listed as a terrorist group in Malaysia since 2014.