Penang Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) secretary K Veeriah has called on the union’s national delegates to condemn the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) or be deemed “eunuchs”.

Veeriah is proposing that a resolution be moved at the forthcoming MTUC Triennial Delegates Conference (TDU) on Nov 29 and 30 to condemn the use of Sosma on Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah.

The TDU will be held at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre, and will involve 600 delegates, including those from Sabah and Sarawak.

Currently, MTUC has about 6,000 members nationwide.

“I am also of the conviction that MTUC must condemn all laws that are contrary to the fundamental principles of human rights,” Veeriah told Malaysiakini.

“Until and unless we as the representatives of the biggest segment of the country do not voice our concerns, we will be called nothing more than eunuchs,” he added.

“I am a non-delegate to the TDC and do not have a voice but you guys (national delegates) can make a difference,” he stressed.

Maria was arrested under Sosma on the eve of Bersih 5 rally on Nov 19, where 40,000 took to the streets to demand, among others, the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak over financial discrepancies of 1MDB.

She is currently held in solitary confinement and her children decried that their mother is “not a terrorist” and have lodged a police report claiming she is being tortured.