The police moved in to disperse a group of people who had gathered at a field in Ampang Jaya for the launch of an anti-ISA campaign and arrested nine people including a parliamentarian.

Among those who were arrested for allegedly failing to disperse was Salahuddin Ayub, PAS member of parliament for Kubang Kerian.

Police light strike force unit started dispersing the crowd – numbering less than 100 – at about 9.26pm just as PAS vice-president Mohamad Sabu started to address the crowd.

By about 10pm, the police managed to remove the people from the field, with the assistance of a heavy downpour.

Only a handful of people, armed with umbrellas, remained behind by the edge of the field.

The police meanwhile formed a line to stop people from gaining access to the field. By 10.30pm, the field was totally deserted with the crowd fully dispersed.

In the process, seven protestors were arrested.

Earlier at about 9pm, the police had issued a warning to the crowd to disperse. About 40 Federal Reserve Unit personnel were on standby along with the normal police force.

Mohamad Sabu and PAS Youth chief Salahuddin arrived at the venue at about 9.15pm. Later, Ampang member of parliament Zuraida Kamaruddin was seen to be in negotiation with the police.

Small group at police station

The campaign was organised by the Abolish ISA Movement (GMI) and was to be launched by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

According to the organisers, Anwar could not make it to the event.

GMI secretary E Nalini said that among those arrested were three PAS leaders from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

Those arrested were taken to the Pandan Indah police station.

A small group of people, led by Mohamad Sabu and GMI chairperson Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, gathered there in support of those arrested, monitored by a group of 20 policemen.

However, at the police station, Mohamad Sabu and Salahuddin who had gone into the police station to inquire about those arrested were themselves arrested.

Ampang Jaya police chief ACP Abd Jalil Hassan later told the media that the police had to detain the men as they had refused to disperse.

“We will take their statements before releasing them after an investigation. We had earlier reminded them against holding the illegal assembly but this was ignored,” he said.

Earlier in the evening, the police had erected roadblock along Jalan Pandan as early as 8pm.

In the run-up to the event, apart from the roadblock, several police vehicles were also seen parked in the vicinity.

According to organisers, the heavy downpour had affected the crowd turnout.

The police had previously advised the organisers not to proceed with the event as there was no police permit for the event.

PJ vigil proceeded smoothly

Meanwhile, a candlelight vigil at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre tonight attracted about 100 people and proceeded peacefully and smoothly.

This is the second week the vigil – also held to oppose the ISA – was being held ‘legally’ with a police permit.

Three weeks ago, the police had dispersed the crowd while breaking up the “illegal assembly” and arrested 23 people in the process.

However last week, the organisers were granted a police permit – with 12 conditions – to organise the vigil.

The 23 arrested people are to report back to the PJ police station tomorrow morning.

Kira-kira 2,000 menyertai perarakan aman di ibu negara malam ini, mendesak supaya dimansuhkan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) dan dibebaskan tahanan di bawah akta kontroversi tersebut.

Pada mulanya, dua kumpulan – Barisan Bertindak Hak Hindu (Hindraf) dan gabungan NGO yang diketuai oleh Pakatan Penulis untuk Kebebasan Media (Wami) – merancang untuk mengadakan majlis memasang lilin di Dataran Merdeka pada kira-kira jam7.30 malam.

Apabila polis mengawal Dataran Merdeka, kumpulan Hindraf yang berjumlah kira-kira 500 orang, berarak menuju ke kuil yang terletak di depan pusat perhentian bas Puduraya kira-kira 1 km dari situ.

Ketika berarak ke sana, orang ramai turut menyertai mereka dan jumlahnya kemudian bertambah mencecah kira-kira 2,000 orang, dengan ramai yang membawa lilin.

Satu lagi kumpulan, yang berarak sambil membawa tanglung, kemudiannya turut menyertai kumpulah Hindraf tersebut.

Sambil berarak, mereka melaungkan “Mansuhkan ISA”, “Bebaskan Raja Petra” and “Hindraf Valga (Hidup Hindraf)”.

Akhirnya, mereka berkumpul di kawasan kuil berkenaan dan beberapa individu menyampaikan ucapan.

Penyelaras pusat Hindraf, R Thanenthiran menggesa kerajaan memenuhi tuntutan peserta perarakan tersebut supaya membebaskan tahanan ISA.

anti isa dataran merdeka 270908 thanenthiranKatanya, Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar tidak boleh memutuskan seorang diri apakah yang terbaik untuk negara.

“Malam ini, kita rakyat, menjadi hakim,” tambahnya.

Kemudian, ahli parlimen Teluk Intan, M Manogaran memberitahu hadirin bahawa perhimpunan tersebut diadakan untuk mengingati ulang tahun pertama penahanan lima pemimpin Hindraf di bawah ISA dan kini ditahan di Kem Tahanan Kamunting, Taiping.

“Kita akan terus mengadakan perhimpunan sehinggalah tahanan ISA dibebaskan,” katanya.

Suasana meriah

Sementara itu, perarakan itu berjalan dalam suasana meriah.

Beberapa penyokong Raja Petra Kamaruddin turut menyanyikan lagu selamat jadi kerana hari ini merupakan hari jadi penulis blog tersebut.

Menjelang jam 9 malam, mereka bersurai dan tiada kejadian yang tidak diingini dilaporkan berlaku.

Thanenthiran kemudiannya memberitahu pemberita bahawa perarakan malam ini membuktikan bahawa rakyat Malaysia boleh berhimpun secara aman untuk menyuarakan isi hati mereka.

“Jika pihak polis mematuhi undang-undang, kita pun juga boleh berbuat demikian,” katanya.

Dalam satu kenyataan selepas orang ramai bersurai, pengerusi Hindraf, P Waytha Moorthy mengucap terima kasih kepada pihak polis kerana membenarkan perarakan tersebut diadakan.

“Kerajaan kini seharusnya menerima hakikat bahawa rakyat Malaysia telah menghantar satu mesej yang kuat dan jelas menolak penggunaan ISA,” katanya yang kini tinggal di luar negara.

Sementara itu, dua peserta buta memberitahu Malaysiakini mengapa mereka turut menyertai perarakan tersebut.

Ramli Abu Bakar, 51, berkata beliau menyokong gerakan anti-ISA sejak ia dimulakan kerana “negara telah mencapai kemerdekaan”.

“Kita telah merdeka selama 51 tahun, jadi mengapa kita perlukan lagi undang-undang itu sekarang,” kata Ramli.

Rakannya Kamal Abdu Bakar, 48, turut menyokongnya dengan berkata ISA tidak relevan lagi sekarang.

Manakala seorang penyokong Raja Petra – Sampa Lee, 60 – berkata pembebasan penulis blog itu serta tahanan ISA yang lain, akan merupakan hadiah hari jadi terbaik yang boleh diberikan oleh kerajaan.

“Ia akan merupakan hadiah terbaik untuk Raja Petra dan semua rakyat Malaysia kerana kita semua menentang undang-undang yang zalim itu,” kata Sampa.

Sementara itu, Ketua Polis Daerah Dang Wangi ACP Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman berkata polis mendapat maklumat bahawa perhimpunan itu dijadualkan diadakan di Dataran Merdeka.

“Tetapi kita telah menempatkan anggota polis di beberapa jalan masuk menuju ke Dataran Merdeka dan ini menyebabkan peserta perhimpunan bertukar lokasi menuju ke kawasan berhampiran Puduraya.

“Tiada sebarang insiden yang tidak diingini berlaku dalam perhimpunan ini dan tiada sebarang tangkapan dibuat,” katanya dalam laporan Bernama.

The United States strongly criticized Malaysia’s government Thursday for its use of a harsh security law to justify the arrests of opposition figures.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack referred in a special statement to a possibility that the law might be used again by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s government to quell dissent.

“The United States views with grave concern recent use by the government of Malaysia of the Internal Security Act and the possibility that it might be used again to detain opposition political figures,” McCormack said. “The statement by a government figure that a leading member of the opposition had become ‘a threat to the economy and national security’ is extremely troubling.”

Opposition dissent over Badawi’s leadership has caused a climate of political insecurity in Malaysia.

An opposition lawmaker, two journalists and at least one Internet blogger critical of the government have been arrested under the security act, which allows indefinite detention without charges.

“The United States firmly believes that national security laws, such as the ISA, must not be used to curtail or inhibit the exercise of universal democratic liberties or the peaceful expression of political views. The detention of opposition leaders under the ISA would be viewed by the United States and the international community as a fundamental infringement of democratic rights and values,” McCormack said.

Around 50 Pakatan Rakyat MPs came together today and set up a parliamentary caucus aimed at pressuring the government into releasing Seputeh MP Teresa Kok from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Although the immediate task on the caucus’ agenda was to affect Kok’s release, it also aimed to seek the freedom of all ISA detainees as well as the abolition of the act, which provided for detention without trial, said DAP leader Lim Kit Siang.

“When a member of parliament is held, not only does it affect the liberties of an individual, it affects the system of parliamentary democracy and, thus, the ordinary people, because it is their right to elected representation and spokespersons.

“This (detention) denies not only the constituents of Seputeh at Parliament – as we feel members of parliament do not merely represent their respective constituencies but represent all the people – but denies 26 million Malaysians who have the right to members of parliament who can voice and act freely,” said Lim at the offset of the caucus’ inaugural meeting in Parliament.

“This is the root issue and we want the government, the police or the executive to accept this principle.”

In addition to Kok, who was arrested ostensibly for her alleged role in an Islamic matter, controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and Sin Chiew Daily journalist Tan Hoon Cheng were also picked up last Friday.
Tan, however, was released 16 hours after being picked up at her home in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

“When they detain a member of parliament under the ISA, there must be some prima facie case. In this case, there is no prima facie case whatsoever. It is only proper for us as MPs to set up this parliamentary caucus to free Teresa Kok,” said Lim.

“This does not mean we are not addressing Raja Petra or the other ISA detainees. This is one of our concerns regarding human rights. We regard the ISA as a nefarious, notorious and iniquitous law that should be abolished.

“But because we are MPs, we also have special responsibility over the freedom and position of an MP,” said Lim.

Meeting the DGP

Lim said he hoped the caucus could meet Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar over Kok’s detention, while letters would be sent to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) on the matter.

A motion would also be submitted to the office of Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia for the House to debate Kok’s arrest, said Lim.

“When Parliament reconvenes on Oct 13, the first item for debate should be the arrest of a member of parliament, in this case, Teresa Kok,” he added.

Former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Zaid Ibrahim, who yesterday announced his resignation over Kok’s detention, was also present to lend his support for the caucus.
Zaid, who was greeted with applause by the Pakatan MPs today, reiterated that his stand on the ISA arrests last Friday meant he could no longer remain a member of the cabinet.

He also said his personal acquaintance with Kok when she was the secretary in the Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Burma, has led him to disbelieve allegations that she was either anti-Malay or anti-Islam as her detractors allege.

“I cannot, for the life of me, believe she is anti-Islam, anti-Malay, anti-anything. She’s a wonderful lady. I can’t see how this person can be a threat to public order and national security. I’m speaking from personal experience here.

“I think if the government has some thing (information) that we don’t have, I think the government should disclose it,” said Zaid.

Zaid said the government should only use the ISA against terrorists or other such dangerous people.

“If we’re going to arrest everybody we don’t like, then we don’t need the laws. But because we use the ISA for political purposes, there will be abuse,” he said.

Caucus office bearers

Following his last remarks, however, a string of PAS, DAP and PKR MPs took the opportunity to insist that the ISA should not be used judiciously or even reviewed, but abolished completely.

These included PAS’ Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli, PKR’s Subang MP R Sivarasa and DAP MPs for Bagan and Bukit Gelugor, respectively, Lim Guan Eng and Karpal Singh.

“I must take issue with Zaid Ibrahim when he qualified that the ISA can be justified under certain circumstances. A detention without trial cannot be justified under any circumstances,” Karpal asserted.

Lim, PKR’s Gombak MP Mohd Azmin Ali and PAS’ Tumpat MP Kamaruddin Jaffar were chosen as the joint chairpersons of the caucus.

Sivarasa, Hatta, PAS’ Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub and DAP’s Bukit Mertajam MP Chong Eng were chosen as the joint vice-chairpersons.

The joint secretaries of the caucus, meanwhile, are Batu Gajah MP Fong Poh Kuan, PAS’ Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud, and PKR’s Selayang MP William Leong.

I’m very sad and disturbed by the arrest of Teresa Kok under the ISA. The government and the people of Malaysia know that this is a clear misuse of the draconian act to hold her without trial or access to her lawyers.

I am hoping that the government will realise this mistake and release her immediately and charge her fairly in a court of law if the charges against her are valid.

I hope that her supporters and constituents will demand their rights to have their legally elected representative immediately released and tried in a court of law so that the current tarnished name of this country can be repaired.

The resignation of de facto law minister Zaid lbrahim amplifies my concerns and distress in this matter. As the law minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Zaid Ibrahim has displayed his dissatisfaction by tendering his resignation letter from the cabinet which consists of MPs and senators of his own party. This shows that the use of ISA on Teresa Kok is unfair and unjust and will not be tolerated any longer by Malaysians.

Let the Hindraf 5 be the last Malaysians to be charged under this law before it is abolished and let there be no more misuse of this draconian piece of legislation for political gains or to dim the rights of speech and expression.

The prime minister of Malaysia should instruct PDRM to drop all charges against Teresa Kok and he should not further insult her voters by blocking their access to her. The rights and privileges of her voters should never be dishonoured as she is the representative of the rakyat who voted for her in the last general elections.

The writer is wife of ISA detainee M Manoharan

Burmese opposition groups are protesting the Malaysia government’s recent arrest of an opposition member of parliament, a blogger and a journalist under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for extended periods of detention without trial.

Malaysia authorities arrested Teresa Kok, Malaysia Today blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng of Sin Chew Daily on Friday. Tan Hoon Cheng was released the following day. The others remain in detention.

Burmese opposition leaders condemned the arrests, which included Ms Teresa Kok, a member of parliament representing the Democratic Action Party and the current secretary of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), a regional advocacy group for democratic change in Burma.

Bo Kyi, the general secretary of the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP) in Mae Sot, Thailand, said, “We are very sad about the arrest of an opposition party member who is very active on Burma.”

“We want justice and a full explanation from the Malaysian government as to why they arrested Teresa Kok,” he said. “We do not agree with this arrest and call on the government to immediately release her.”

Teresa Kok has been accused of causing racial tension by petitioning a mosque in her area to lower the broadcast volume of call to prayer. According to the Malaysian human rights group SUARAM, she has denied the accusation, and her denial was supported by the head of the committee of the mosque in question.

Ye Min Htun, the general secretary of the Burma Worker Rights Protection Committee in Kuala Lumpur, said Teresa Kok is currently the secretary of AIPMC, a group of legislators in Asean countries who work for democratic change in Burma.

“She is a committed leader who continuously campaigns for the release of political prisoners in Burma including pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.” said Ye Min Htun. “The arrest of Teresa Kok is a very bad thing for Malaysia, and at the same time also for migrants and refugees who depend on her.”

“She wants to bring full human rights and democracy to Malaysia, including all people in Malaysia, even undocumented migrants.”

Meanwhile, Soe Aung of the National Council for the Union of Burma called for the repeal of the Internal Security Act.
“The ISA is similar to the Emergency Provision Act (EPA) in Burma,” he said. “This kind of law should not be practised by any government in the world. This arrest under ISA is unjust, and we especially shouldn’t see this in democratic countries like Malaysia. The Malaysian government should release everyone detained under the ISA.”

“The arrest of an MP has alarmed many people and created divisions even amongst the government in Malaysia. It is very important for the Malaysia government to rethink and try to deal with this problem in a fair and just way,” he said.

The ISA was introduced in Malaysia in 1960 during the British colonial occupation as a tool to control a communist insurgency movement. It has been used by successive Malaysian governments as a way to silence dissent and free speech, say critics.

Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org

THROUGHOUT her 18-hour ordeal of being detained by police, Malaysian reporter Tan Hoon Cheng remained calm, if inwardly concerned about what would happen to her.

So much so that one policewoman said she looked ‘very steady’.

But there was one moment when Miss Tan, 33, was moved to tears.

That was when she saw people lining the road to support her.

Only hours earlier, around 8.30pm on Friday, the police had picked up the Sin Chew Daily reporter from her house in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

As she was being driven out of the Penang police station, she saw a group of people gathered outside.

She told The New Paper over the phone last night: ‘I saw my colleagues, some other media friends and some political figures standing outside, showing their support for me. I felt so touched that I couldn’t help crying.’

As the police car passed the main gate, her editor rushed to the window and tried to prevent it from moving further. He knocked on the glass to check whether Miss Tan was indeed inside.

She said: ‘I dabbed away my tears. He saw me and signalled his support.’

She later wrote in her own newspaper how seeing this had given her strength as ‘everybody was throwing their support and belief behind me’.

Miss Tan had braced herself for the worst – that she could be detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for a long time. But a policeman told her the next day at 2.25pm that she was free to go. By then, Miss Tan had spent some 18 hours in the lock-up.

She had been hauled in over a report in which she quoted Penang’s Bukit Bendera Umno chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail as saying that the Chinese community were ‘squatters’ in Malaysia.

This was at a rally speech during the Permatang Pauh by-election that returned opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to parliament.

Show-cause letters

Last Thursday, Sin Chew was among three publications served show-cause letters from the Home Ministry for breaching guidelines with their ‘sensitive’ reports.

Miss Tan said of the night the police came: ‘I was just about to eat some kueh, but my mind was filled with worry over what would happen to the paper.’

When she answered the knock on the door, a policewoman told her they were taking her in for questioning. ‘I saw about 10 other plainclothes policemen. I was shocked… I did not expect this at all. I tried to calm myself down.’

The senior journalist demanded to see a warrant of arrest but was told it was not needed. The policewoman said they had an order to arrest her under the ISA and showed her a letter.

Ms Tan quickly called her editor who told her to notify their legal adviser.

She said: ‘I was advised not to let them in yet, but I thought I’d rather resolve this in a peaceful manner so I went willingly.’

The arrest stunned her mother, Madam Khor Ah Heok, 59, who couldn’t sleep the whole night out of worry . (See report on facing page.)

According to her first-person account in Sin Chew Daily, she said she was led to a ‘very cold room’ at the police station.

She wrote: ‘While I waited, a policewoman who was in the room with me appeared to shiver from the cold too.

‘To break the silence, I decided to talk to her. She then told me that I ‘seemed very steady’.’

At the lock-up, her thumbprint was taken and she was given something to eat before they took her to a cell.

They agreed to her request for the lights to be left on. She said: ‘The policewoman told me not to worry as she was (standing guard) there.’

Miss Tan said the cell was smaller than a room in an apartment but it had a toilet and wooden bed.

‘I kept telling myself to sleep because who knows what will come the next day. I wanted to make sure I was mentally rested to face anything.’

But her mind was fraught with worry and she hardly slept that night.

She spent the night listening to the sound of ‘mosquitoes buzzing’ and ‘water dripping’ nearby, while thinking about how to to reassure her parents when they see her the next day.

The next morning, she was handed some clothing and toiletries which the police said were from her colleagues.

After meeting her parents around 8.30am, she bade them ‘goodbye’, not knowing when she would see them next.

She told The New Paper: ‘I was then told to get in a police car and they told me they were taking me to Bukit Aman (the federal police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur). My heart sank and I thought the worst was coming.’

But after a while, the car turned back and she was taken to a Penang police station. That was when she began to feel the first signs of hope.

She said: ‘The police told me they were done with the statements. But when they told me I was free to go, I couldn’t believe it at first, so I asked again.’

She was taken home to an emotional reunion. Her handphone would not stop ringing and she received many SMSes from relatives, colleagues, friends, politicians from all parties as well as former schoolmates.

Asked whether she regretted writing the report, she said: ‘I never have regrets. This is the job we do and I was merely wrote what I heard, no agenda.’

She was the only one who reported the quote about the Chinese being squatters, though other reporters have said they heard Mr Ahmad saying it.