Courts in Australia granted bail to three Tamil men accused of raising funds for the Liberation Tigers.
A judge in Melbourne, Victoria, said the two defendants appearing before him should be accorded the normal presumption of innocence before facing trial.
The third man was freed on bail at a separate hearing. All three have been told to report daily to the police.
Police arrested Aruran Vinayagamoorthy, 33, and Sivarajah Yathavan, 36, in May after a two-year investigation, alleging the pair were raising money for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Arumugam Rajeevan, 41, was arrested in Sydney last Wednesday.
All three were charged with being members of a terrorist organization, providing support to a terrorist group and giving funds to a proscribed entity. They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
But Victoria state Supreme Court Judge Bernard Bongiorno released Vinayagamoorthy and Yathavan on 100,000 Australian dollars bail Tuesday, saying the Australian government has not declared the Liberation Tigers a terrorist group.
Attorney General Phillip Ruddock said he had asked government lawyers to examine whether there are grounds to appeal the decision.
Under Australian laws, a group is considered a terrorist organization if it is formally listed by the federal government, or if a court makes a specific ruling.
The Tamil Tigers are not on the government's current list of 19 banned organizations, although the group appears on terror blacklists in the European Union and the United States.
Bongiorno said the suspects should be accorded the normal presumption of innocence.
"If that principle is abandoned or even modified for political expediency, that risks the whole foundation of our criminal justice system," he told the court.
Vinayagamoorthy and Yathavan were ordered to appear in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on July 24.
Rajeevan, 41, was also granted A$100,000 bail by Magistrate Ian Gray.
Outside the court, Rajeevan's lawyer Rob Stary said justice had prevailed. "I'm grateful that we've got an independent judiciary," he said.
Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock responded to the men being released on bail by saying bail laws for people charged with terrorism offences could be reviewed if there is evidence courts are misinterpreting them.
Under Australia's anti-terrorism laws, there is a presumption against bail for people charged with terrorism-related offences.
"If our understanding of the way in which the presumption against bail should operate ... is misunderstood, we will look at whether or not further amendments are required," Mr Ruddock told reporters in Canberra.
"It's a matter (to which) the government will give consideration.
"I don't wish to reflect upon decisions of judicial officers ... but they help us to understand how the law is being interpreted.
"If, on appeal, those decisions were upheld, the government might well want to give the courts some further advice as to how these issues ought to be addressed."
