Former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s speech during the SOSMA debate in Parliament yesterday again brought to the forefront the detention of 12 persons, including two DAP State Assemblymen one in Negri Sembilan and the other in Malacca, for alleged links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2019.
More than two years have passed since the release of the 12 persons detained for alleged links to LTTE.
For more than two years, there had been no incident to justify the existence of any LTTE network in the country, casting doubt on the veracity of the charges against the 12 persons in 2019.
The Security Parliamentary Select Committee, chaired by the PKR MP for Sungai Patani, Johari Abdul, should investigate into the detention of the 12 persons for alleged links with the LTTE to establish whether it was a security or a political operation.
The Parliamentary Select Committee should hold hearings to investigate into the matter because of the premier role played by Muhyiddin, who was then the Home Minister, in the subsequent Sheraton Move conspiracy which toppled Pakatan Harapan government and Muhyiddin replaced Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister.
Investigation by the Security Parliamentary Select Committee is imperative now that Parliament had voted to extend SOSMA for another five years and Parliament must ensure that there had been no abuse of power in SOSMA implementation in the past.
The Security Parliamentary Select Committee should also hold hearings to investigate into the detention of the then Bersih Chairperson, Maria Chin Abdullah (now PKR MP for Petaling Jaya) in 2016 and detentions of activist Khairuddin Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang for their attempts to expose the 1MDB financial scandal, and to establish whether these SOSMA detentions were abuses of power.
The members of the Security Parliamentary Select Committee are Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak), Ramli Mohd Nor (Cameron Highlands), Rahim Bakri (Kudat), Wilson Ugak Anak Kumbong (Hulu Rajang), Syed Ibrahim Syed Nor (Ledang), Lim Lip Eng (Kepong) and Mohamad Sabu (Kota Raja).
(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Wednesday, 27th July 2022)
