| Of the five Hindraf leaders detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), P Uthayakumar recorded the highest number of reasons which the government used to support his detention.
T he nine reasons were listed in the detention order as an annexure titled “Allegations of facts” on which the order is based - a requirement under Section 11 (2) (b) of the ISA. Other than five seditious speeches, Uthayakumar was accused of organising three illegal assemblies - at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya, outside Parliament and outside the Attorney-General’s Department - between Nov 2006 to August 2007.
The final reason is his alleged links to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist group in Sri Lanka which has been declared a terrorist organisation by a number of western countries.
Uthayakumar has vehemently denied Hindraf's links to LTTE.
Two other Hindraf leaders detained under ISA - V Ganabatirau and T Vasantha Kumar - had six allegations mentioned in their respective detention orders.
M Manoharan chalked up seven while R Kenghadharan had only three.
The four other detainees were mostly accused of making ‘seditious speeches’ during Hindraf organised public forums and taking the movement’s cause overseas.
Hearing next week
The five were detained under the ISA on Dec 13 based on an order signed by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi under his Internal Security Minister portfolio.
The detainees were immediately sent to the Kamunting Detention Centre to serve their two-year detention.
In a related development, Karpal Singh - counsel for the five Hindraf leaders - today filed habeas corpus applications for Uthayakumar and Vasantha Kumar at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
The applications follows similar applications made by Karpal on behalf of Manoharan and Ganabatirau on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters later, Karpal said Judicial Commissioner Zainal Azman Abd Aziz would be hearing all four cases next Wednesday.
A habeas corpus application for Kenghadharan would be made on Monday. The move is believed to be a deliberate attempt to disassociate him from Hindraf. |
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