Hindraf 'has links with Tigers'

SHAH ALAM: Hindu Rights Action Force leaders may face criminal charges over their links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said police had started their investigation following a report lodged by a member of the public.

"The danger is that this group has been officially declared a terrorist organisation," he said outside the Shah Alam High Court yesterday.

Abdul Gani said the LTTE had been declared a terrorist group even in the United States, the United Kingdom and India.

"There is a United Nations resolution that no one should provide any form of support, including financial assistance to this group."
The A-G had on Wednesday told the court that he had reports Hindraf members had connections with the LTTE.

"It is a cause for concern. I believe the matter must be probed thoroughly."

Abdul Gani said anyone, including himself, would be in a state of apprehension about Hindraf's links with the LTTE.

"I think everybody in the world will be worried about such connection."

He said he would wait for the police to complete their investigation before deciding on the next course of action.

Hindraf leader P. Waytha Moorthy, in an interview with the Indian Express last Saturday, warned that Malaysia could become another Sri Lanka.

Waytha Moorthy's brother, Uthayakumar had also told The New Paper in Singapore that he could not rule out violence if the demands of the Indian community were not met.

The LTTE, fighting for a separate state, had been engaged in violent activities with government security forces for several decades.

Meanwhile, the High Court adjourned to Monday a criminal revision application made by the public prosecutor following a discharge given to Uthayakumar, Waytha Moorthy and T. Ganabathirau for allegedly making seditious remarks in public.

Judicial commissioner Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim said he was allowing the application only on grounds that the counsel representing the three needed more time to prepare its submission.

"I am only allowing the adjournment because one of the counsel had raised an important legal issue of whether a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by a lower court could be reviewed by a High Court."

Earlier, counsel M. Mano-haran, who is appearing for the three, told the court that he had sent a letter to Chief Justice Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad yesterday, seeking direction that the application be heard by another judge.

Manoharan said this was because Abang Iskandar was once a subordinate of Abdul Gani in the Attorney-General's Chambers.

Abdul Gani said the counsel's submission was a ploy to seek an adjournment pending a reply from Abdul Hamid.

On Nov 26, Sessions Court judge Zunaidah Mohd Idris, who gave a discharge, had ruled that the charge against the three was defective as the original speech made in Tamil was not attached to the charge sheet.

That decision is now being contested by the prosecution led by Abdul Gani who, on Wednesday, had submitted that the charge was valid although the Tamil text was not attached with the translated Bahasa Malaysia copy.

In Kuala Kangsar, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the LTTE and Rashtriya Swaymsevak Sangh in India were supporting Hindraf.

He said the government had information which linked Hindraf to these foreign groups.

"We are monitoring Hindraf and if the links are confirmed, then it is clear that Hindraf is a terrorist organisation."

Earlier, Nazri, who is Padang Rengas MP, presented bicycles sponsored by Putera Umno Malaysia to 100 pupils from 16 schools in Kati who scored 5As in the recent Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah examinations.

He said Hindraf had collected RM70,000 to fight its cause, including travel expenses.