KUALA LUMPUR: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) movement has been defunct for many years and there is no attempt to revive it, says DAP’s Klang MP Charles Santiago.
Santiago said he was shocked and baffled at the arrest of the seven suspects, including two DAP assemblymen – Gadek’s G. Saminathan and Seremban Jaya’s P. Gunasekaran – over alleged links to the LTTE.
“As far as I remember, there’s no attempt to revive it at an international level, so I’m not sure what is the motivation behind their arrest.
“It definitely raises a lot of questions because even in Sri Lanka, LTTE does not exist, as well as at the international level.
“There’s also no network in Malaysia and no attempt to raise money in Malaysia,” he said at the parliament lobby on Thursday (Oct 10).
Santiago also said DAP was currently waiting for the police to release more information over the arrest of the suspects.
Earlier on Thursday (Oct 10), the seven individuals were picked up by the authorities in Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Perak, over suspected links with the LTTE.
Sri Lanka was embroiled in a 26-year-long civil war between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan military, which saw around 80,000-100,000 people killed.
The Sri Lankan civil war ended when Sri Lanka’s military defeated the LTTE in May 2009.
However, over the years, there have been several arrests by authorities against individuals said to be supporting the LTTE, which is labelled as an illegal organisation in Malaysia. – The Star