Protest outside Home Minister residence:

This event will be held at 3.00pm at the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi’s official residence, at Lot 855, Jalan Bellamy. Kuala Lumpur.

The leaders of political parties and organisations , family members and supporters will hand over thousands of postcards and protest letters demanding the ISA to be abolished and those detained to be released. Please lend you support with participation in this protest!

-PMI (7 June 2001)

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NEWS

www.malaysiakini.com
Wednesday June 6
Anti-ISA group plans protest outside Home Minister residence

8:45pm, Wed: A group campaigning for repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows indefinite detention without trial, announced plans for a peaceful mass protest Saturday outside the official residence of Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Abdullah signed the orders to transfer four opposition activists from police custody to Kamunting detention camp for up to two years. They are Mohamad Ezam Mohamad Noor, Tian Chua and Saari Sungib, all leading members of the National Justice Party, and social activist Hishamuddin Rais. The four are among 10 supporters of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim held under the ISA in a series of arrests, which began April 10 and sparked outrage among opposition supporters and rights groups. The National Justice Party is headed by Anwar's wife.

Two other ISA detainees are still in police custody, two have been ordered freed by a judge at Sham Alam high court, and two have been voluntarily released by police.

At a press conference today, the Abolish ISA Movement gave details of one of the allegations against Ezam made in his detention order. Zaid Kamaruddin, chairman of the movement, said Ezam - Anwar's former political secretary - had been accused of holding five secret meetings with two others to "discuss plans and strategy to use explosives to threaten the lives and to harm certain leaders in the country".

Zaid said the allegation was "very, very serious" but the government should prove it in court. "Justice will not be done till he is brought to court," he said. Ezam's wife Bahirah Tajul Aris, interviewed separately, described the allegation as baseless. She said her husband urged supporters to continue campaigning. "The old dictator (Mahathir) is becoming increasingly paranoid in detaining us but our spirit is not the least shaken," Bahirah quoted her husband as saying during a visit to him at Kamunting two days ago. Zaid told the press conference he expected thousands to gather outside Abdullah's residence Saturday to hand in a protest against the detentions. He said it was unusual to hold a protest at a minister's house but "we want to stress that the ISA is very destructive to the lives of those detained and also to their families".

The US State Department said today it was "deeply concerned" at the detentions of the four and urged they either be released or charged. Spokesman Richard Boucher said the detentions "seem intended to prevent the detainees, against whom there are no criminal charges, from exercising internationally recognised rights of free speech, political expression, and assembly". Lawyers for the four activists now held at Kamunting are appealing to the federal court against the decision in April by a Kuala Lumpur high court judge to reject their habeas corpus applications. They also represent one man who has since been freed.

Government lawyer Abdul Gani Patail argued that the original applications were no longer valid since these named the police chief as respondent. Four detainees were now subject to a home ministry order and the fifth had been freed, he said. The proper course would be to file a writ of habeas corpus against the home minister. But the five-judge court ruled unanimously that "the issues are still alive in view of the decision of the (Kuala Lumpur) high court that the detention of the five is lawful". It set July 9-11 for hearing the appeal. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and police chief Norian Mai have said Anwar's supporters planned to use explosives and weapons in street demonstrations to topple the government.

Last modified:Wednesday June 6, 8:55 pm