The Malaysian police detained two Democratic Action Party assembly persons in Malacca over alleged links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) today.
In total, police picked up seven men, including the two assemblymen, who are detained for their alleged links to the LTTE which local authorities consider a terror organisation.
TISG recently published an article on the presence of LTTE supporters in Malaysia campaigning openly for Malaysia to abandon its diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka.
The group also praises the LTTE and its former leader Prabhakaran, saying they represent the Tamil community.
According to news sources in Malaysia, the suspects were picked up in Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Perak.
The news reports say Bukit Aman’s counter-terrorism division chief Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchai confirmed the arrests.
The two DAP members arrested this morning are Malacca exco member G Saminathan and Seremban Jaya assembly person P Gunasekaran.
They have been detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), which allows for 28 days of detention.
“They were picked up for suspected links to the LTTE.
“They have been monitored for quite some time, ” a source told The Star daily in Kuala Lumpur.
Last week, in a video, a man called Kalai Mugilan said the Malaysian police have no right to prevent them from voicing their support for the LTTE or for saying the LTTE is the basis of the struggle of the Tamils in Malaysia.
Pro-LTTE group surfaces in Malaysia, warn police not to stop its activities
A Malaysian group calling itself the “Malaysian Terrorist & Mission Threats Study Center” (in Malay, Pusat Kajian Ancaman Pengganas & Misionari Di Malaysia) reposted the video on its Facebook page.
It said the pro-LTTE group in Malaysia were made of Malaysians.
The video circulating on Facebook shows a man speaking in Malay on his support for the banned Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers Liberation Front.
In the background of the video, there is a poster in Tamil with a picture of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE, a militant organization that waged a war in Sri Lanka in its bid to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of the country. -/TISG