Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Verdict on discharge pleas on July 4

By K. Subramanian

KANCHEEPURAM JUNE 20. L.Rajendran, special judge, POTA court at Poonamalle today extended the remand for the MDMK general secretary, Vaiko, and eight others arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, till July 4 and said he would deliver his verdict on discharge petitions filed by the eight accused (except Vaiko) that day.

The public prosecutor, S.Jayakumar, took nearly three and half hours to complete his arguments on the petitions filed by Ganesamurthy, Veera Ilavarasan, Bhoominathan and Pulavar Seventhiappan, the former MLA, P.S.Manian, the advocate, Alagusundaram, Nagarajan and Madurai Ganesan.

The public prosecutor submitted before the judge that the LTTE was banned in 1992 and one of the reasons was that the LTTE's objective was a separate Tamil Eelam, which included Tamil-speaking people wherever they were living. Therefore, it was a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India. Many organisations supported the LTTE, including the MDMK, which enabled the Sri Lankan organisation to have a strong base in Tamil Nadu. In this regard, the role of Mr.Vaiko was discussed by a tribunal constituted under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967, he said.

Vaiko charge

Talking to mediapersons on the court campus, Mr.Vaiko, said the police were refusing permission at the last minute for MDMK public meetings, especially for Nanjil Sampath, on the pretext that the meetings would affect peace in the State.

Gopal remand extended

The POTA court also extended the remand for Nakkheeran editor, R.R.Gopal, who too was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, till July 7.

P.T.Perumal, counsel for the accused, submitted that Mr.Gopal, who was taken to Tiruchi court from Chennai central prison in connection with a case on June 10, was not brought back to Chennai, but was lodged in the Tiruchi prison and ill-treated. The counsel also submitted that Gopal was threatened at gun-point by the Q Branch CID police deputy superintendent, Nagarajan, when he was taken to Sithode and obtained from him statements on possession of a country-made rifle and explosive materials.

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