Chennai, Nov 08: POTA detenue and MDMK general secretary Vaiko has appealed to External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha to "personally take up" at the highest level the issue of saving the lives of eight Tamil youths, now facing capital punishment in a Malaysian jail. In his appeal, a copy of which was made available to the press today, Vaiko said the youths from Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu had "falsely been implicated" in a criminal case and detained in Sungai Boloh prison in Malaysia since May last. Vaiko said the youths, all construction workers, had gone there for work with "pucca" passport and permit visas. They were staying in the first floor of a house owned by two Malaysian Indians. On the night of April 25 last, a police party "forcibly" entered the house and seized drugs from the owners' portion but the eight youths were taken to police station for further interrogation. Though a court ordered their release on May 07, saying they were not "guilty", the eight were again arrested on May 09 on charges of "drug trafficking". The judge then awarded capital punishment to all of them. Though the two Malaysian Indians were caught red-handed, they falsely implicated the eight Indian youths, using their influence with powerful quarters, with the result that they were now languishing in jail, he said.
Through some friends, the matter was taken up with the Indian embassy there, but 'embassy did not really help', Vaiko said and appealed to Sinha to take up the matter at the highest level to save their lives.
Bureau Report