by

Sangeetha Amarthalingam

GEORGE TOWN: Death awaits the three Sri Lankan Tamils arrested in Kuala Lumpur if they were to be deported to their home country, said Deputy Chief Minister (II) P Ramasamy.

He said the police have disrespected the refugee status given by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the three who fled Sri Lanka during the civil unrest.

Ramasamy also questioned the police on what other grounds the three men were arrested apart from the possession of a laptop, about RM20,000 cash and alleged Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) paraphernalia.

“The UNHCR officials interviewed and provided visas for the Tamil refugees as a temporary stay in Malaysia. There is no basis for the police to say that the visas have been used for terrorist activities by Tamils.

“We need UNHCR to corroborate the police story. Whether they do it remains a doubt,” he told a press conference, adding that if the police had evidence to support the arrest, they should investigate them here and tried under Malaysian laws.

“Khalid said in an earlier arrest, the police detained and deported a Tamil suspect who was considered the number two in the LTTE hierachy. I wonder what has happened to him. Probably he is dead already,” he said.

“They will certainly be tortured and killed when they arrive in Sri Lanka or disappear. I am disgusted that we have a police force that is totally irresponsible.”

On May 15, the police special branch’s elite anti-terrorism unit nabbed three Sri Lankan Tamils, aged between 30 and 45, believed to have been in the country since 2004, in Kuala Lumpur and Klang in simultaneous raids.

News reports quoting Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar stated that the trio had been hiding and conducting activities to the detriment of Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Khalid said the suspects are believed to be previously attached to LTTE’s air wing.

Khalid also reportedly said there are about 4,300 Sri Lanka Tamil refugees here and the authorities would be screening them soon to “flush” out LTTE “terrorists”.

Courtesy: http://www.fz.com