GEORGE TOWN: Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy said the seven people suspected to have been involved with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militant group should not have been arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).
He 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 for the purpose of investigation.
Ramasamy said police should prosecute those arrested if they have evidence of the crime they may have committed.
Seven people, two of them assemblymen from Melaka and Negri Sembilan, were arrested on Thursday for alleged links to the LTTE.
Ramasamy said he was informed that the assemblymen had attended a memorial to pay respects to Tamils who had died during 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 the LTTE.
“The LTTE is different, the Tamil cause is different,” he said. - Bernama