AG does not object to application to declassify LTTE as a terrorist organisation
(FMT) – The government is not contesting a leave application for judicial review by a taxi driver who wants to compel the home minister to remove the defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist organisation from a gazette notification.
Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hamir Hambaly said this was due to a directive from Attorney-General Tommy Thomas.
“We will now proceed to argue the merits of the application,” he told reporters after proceedings in the chambers of High Court judge Mariana Yahaya.
Thomas, a civil lawyer appointed AG in June 2018, has said the Attorney-General’s Chambers would not object to leave in judicial review applications if it involved public interest matters.
Hamir said Mariana has fixed case management for Feb 24.
On Jan 8, V Balamurugan, one of the 12 men charged with supporting and possessing materials linked to the defunct LTTE, filed the action on the grounds that the gazette notification is irrational and unreasonable.
In the application, he is seeking an order from the court to quash the notification, gazetted on Nov 12, 2014, by the then minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Apart from LTTE, Balamurugan also wants 17 other organisations and 39 individuals to be removed from the list.
In his case, the 37-year-old said the minister’s decision to declare the LTTE as a terrorist group was untenable as the Sri Lankan army had in 2009 declared the entity as a defunct organisation.
“Moreover, the Swiss Federal Court last December has also declared that the LTTE is not a criminal organisation,” he said.
Lawyer Omar Kutty Abdul Aziz, Farhan Fadzil and Matthews Jude are appearing for Balamurugan.
On Oct 29, Balamurugan was charged in the Sessions Court with supporting the LTTE at an event held at the Kuala Kangsar Municipal Council hall (Sungai Siput Utara branch) on Dec 28, 2014.
He also faces three charges of possessing items with elements of terrorist acts or related to the LTTE, in a mobile phone at three locations in Sungai Siput on Oct 10 last year.
He also faces the fourth charge of supporting the LTTE via a Facebook posting on Oct 7 last year.
If found guilty, he could face a minimum seven-year jail term and maximum life imprisonment or 30 years’ jail plus a fine for each of the offences.
His case has now been transferred to the High Court in Kuala Lumpur and the trial has been fixed for Oct 26.
