Six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members, including Sungai Siput MP Dr D Jeyakumar, were this morning granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the Butterworth Sessions Court to a charge of allegedly possessing subversive materials.

The decision comes more than two weeks after judge Ikmal Hishan Mohd Tajuddin handed down a similar decision to 24 other PSM members who also faced the same charges under the Internal Security Act and Societies Act.

NONE In that decision , deputy public prosecutor Suhaimi Ibrahim had recommended the discharge not amounting to acquittal, saying a court case on whether Bersih 2.0 was an illegal movement or not was pending.

When contacted, Jeyakumar ( left ) said he was relieved that the episode was over but was less than happy that they were charged in the first place.

"No thanks to the government. There's nothing to be grateful for. We shouldn't have been arrested in the first place, and they let us off because this has become politically costly as too many people in Malaysia have opposed it."

'Gov't must set up an inquiry'

Jeyakumar called on the government to investigate how the accusations against the PAS members came about.

"What should be done is for the Home Ministry to open an inquiry over the made-up story that we were planning to attack the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or that the people of Sungai Siput planned to fire-bomb police stations.

"If these stories originated from the police, then it raises serious credibility issues," he said.

His lawyers, Jeyakumar added, had demanded a full acquittal but the judge could not deviate from his earlier judgment for the 24 others as they were charged together.

The other five are M Sukumar and relatives M Satukunadevi, M Kavitha, M Ravindran and M Thivy Kumar, who were not present during the earlier decision on Oct 10 as Sukumar's mother had died.

The 31 PSM members were arrested at the Sungai Dua toll plaza in Penang in June during their Udalah Tu, Bersaralah campaign for allegedly waging war against the Agong.

They were subsequently released but Jeyakumar and five others were immediately rearrested and detained under the Emergency Ordinance for close to a month and went on to become known as the PSM6.