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Are the police sabotaging the BN?

By P. Ramakrishnan
Tuesday, 03 August 2010 20:28

Sunday, 1 August 2010, marked the 50th Anniversary of the ISA. It was a milestone that had to be observed by every caring Malaysian. It was an occasion that deserved to be commemorated.

This evil Act has been with us for 50 years serving as a convenient and useful political tool to keep the ruling elite in power. For 50 years, this Act has terrorised innocent people. Some 10,000 people lost their freedom because they were detained under the ISA which gives them no recourse to the courts.

Their detention is at the pleasure of the Minister of Home Affairs. He is legally empowered to detain any Malaysian indefinitely by simply extending their detention orders every two years. No court of law can question the Minister’s detention orders. As long as he is of the opinion that an individual is a threat to national security, he can order the detention.
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Abolish the ISA and all oppressive laws

By Thomas Lee Seng Hock | Mysinchew

Thirty-five persons — 30 in Petaling Jaya, four in Penang, and one in Ipoh — were detained by police during a peaceful candle-light vigil held in several parts of the country on the night of Sunday 1 August 2010, the date commemorating the 50th anniversary of the oppressive Internal Security Act (ISA).

Those arrested were among the people who had gathered to protest against the country’s most hated and feared legislation, which allows for detention without trial and has been wielded against more than 10,000 people since it went to effect on 1 August 1960.

The enactment of the ISA in 1960, three years after Malaya gained independence, was related to the internal battle against the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) which was then involved in an armed insurgency and insurrection, which started soon after World War 2.

Earlier in 1948 after three European planters in Perak were killed by communists, the then colonial British administration introduced the Emergency Regulations Ordinance 1948 and declared the infamous Emergency across the country.
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Mass arrests of 36 people for candlelight vigils protesting 50th ISA anniversary – clear signal by Najib and Hishammuddin

The mass arrests of 36 people in Petaling Jaya, Penang and Kota Bahru for candlelight vigils protesting the 50th anniversary of the Internal Security Act is a clear signal that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hisham are not prepared to repeal draconian laws to show greater respect and commitment to human rights of Malaysians.

The Najib government was fully aware beforehand of the peaceful candlelight vigils planned countrywide to protest against the pernicious and draconian Internal Security Act, which had detained over 10,000 people without trial in the past half-century, stifling fundamental liberties of Malaysians to freedom of speech and expression, the right to peaceful assembly and association and most important of all the right to liberty and freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention.

The police crackdown on peaceful candlelight vigils protesting against the 50th anniversary of the ISA in various parts of the country last night is an unmistakable statement by the Najib administration that it cannot be trusted in taking the country towards a more open, democratic and accountable direction.
Continue reading “Mass arrests of 36 people for candlelight vigils protesting 50th ISA anniversary – clear signal by Najib and Hishammuddin”

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Kit Siang: ‘Renewed’ and ‘committed’ to fight ISA

By Melissa Chi | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — For Lim Kit Siang, a veteran politician popularly known for his no-holds-barred rhetoric, the one most painful experience from his detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) was having his freedom capped.

The DAP adviser’s only freedom had come in tiny doses and during those difficult days and his only comfort came from being allowed to wear his own clothes and to take short jogs around the secured compound to keep himself active.

When relating his story recently, Lim told The Malaysian Insider that it was really during his 35-month confinement under the ISA that he truly started to value his freedom.

“Freedom is the most precious thing, it is not tangible, something only when you lose, you’ll cherish it,” said Lim, who was detained on two separate occasions in 1969 and 1987.
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Don’t use ISA against Nasir Safar – more important to flush out all the closet Nasir Safars holding influential positions in government

Recently, the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein warned that there are forces bent on derailing the government’s 1Malaysia concept.

Hishammuddin was referring to the recent spate of arson and vandalism at places of worship but he failed to realize that the enemies of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept are to found closer home – in the very sanctum of the Najib premiership!

MIC leaders, from its President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, are baying for Nasir’s blood and even demanding that Nasir should be detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

This is the last thing that should be done, for it will only make Nasir a martyr. Furthermore, the ISA detention-without-trial law is so iniquitous, unjust and undemocratic a legislation that I will not want to wish it on my worst opponents as its only proper destination is the scrapyard.

The strongest and most severe action must be taken against Nasir for his offensive, seditious and anti-1Malaysia outburst, labelling Indians and Chinese as “pendatang”, alleging that “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially the women came to sell their bodies (jual tubuh)” and threatening to revoke the citizenship of Indians vocal about the subject cap for SPM examination.
Continue reading “Don’t use ISA against Nasir Safar – more important to flush out all the closet Nasir Safars holding influential positions in government”

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In The Spirit of Eid ul Fitra

By M. Bakri Musa

I applaud Prime Minister Najib Razak for releasing five more prisoners held under the unjust and abominable Internal Security Act (ISA). That he did it in the last Ashra (ten days) of Ramadan, and within days of Hari Raya, captures best the true spirit of Ramadan and the generosity of Eid ul Fitra.

Najib’s generous gesture illustrates another important point. Leaders do not need to resort to catchy slogans or grandiose gestures in order to demonstrate the greatness of our faith. His releasing the prisoners (this latest group of five, plus the earlier 13 set free on his assuming office and the 16 a few weeks later) did more to enhance the image of Islam than all the pontifications of his predecessor and self-styled Imam of Islam Hadhari, Abdullah Badawi. Abdullah’s frequent recitations of the ideals of Islam notwithstanding, he did not release a single prisoner during his tenure.

The only sour note to this latest action was the idiotic (what else is new?) comment by Home Minister Hishammuddin. He threatened “to fill Kamunting to the brim” if that was what it would take to protect the nation’s security. Despite his long years in government he has learned nothing; he still has the same perverted priorities.

Hishammuddin and others of his persuasion must be reminded over and over, for they are prone to forget, that the greatest threat to our nation’s security, and indeed our well being, remains our corrupt and ineffective institutions, including and especially the police and the anti-corruption commission. Both agencies are under Hishammuddin’s direct purview.
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What need is there for Ku Li?

By Hussein Hamid

Who are these people that will lead us. Anwar Ibrahim did not know of his destiny until he was faced with the reality of life within the four walls of his cell. Lim Kit Siang and Karpal never did have the taste of power as Anwar did but are familiar with the harshness and isolation that the ISA impose on those that are unfortunate enough to endure its shadow. Tok Guru had his son put away under the same ISA and I believe that the sorrow and pain of a Father with a son put away for his beliefs is almost as great a sorrow as anyone can endure. By circumstance or design their destiny is to lead us and we are grateful for their commitment and presence in our ranks.

If I am asked this question of the next GE “In this hour of its greatest need, will you not, as a Malay, support UMNO after all that it has done for the Malays in this country?” The answer from my heart will be “yes” but my judgement is “NO !!” I will not be for UMNO because it can no longer champion the cause of the Malays – the reason UMNO was established many years ago”
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Why do Malaysians march?

By Yeo Yang Poh

WHY march, when the government has said that it will review the Internal Security Act? Why march, when there are other very cosy ways of giving your views and feedback?

One would understand if these were questions posed by nine-year-olds. But they are not. They are questions posed by the prime minister of this nation we call our home. Answer we must. So, why?

Because thousands who died while in detention cannot march or speak any more. That is why others have to do it for them.

Because persons in the corridors of power, persons who have amassed tremendous wealth and live in mansions, and persons who are in the position to right wrongs but won’t, continue to rule our nation with suffocating might. And they certainly would not march. They would prevent others from marching.

Because the have-nots, the sidelined, the oppressed, the discriminated and the persecuted have no effective line to the powerful.

Because the nice ways have been tried ad nauseam for decades, but have fallen on deaf ears.
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ISA should be abolished, not amended

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life Adviser

PM NAJIB RAZAK SHOULD ABOLISH THE ISA IF HE IS TO KEEP TO HIS PROMISE TO BUILD A 1MALAYSIA, AS THE ISA IS AN ANTIQUATED REPRESSIVE LAW, AND WILL RETARD MALAYSIA TO BECOME A MODERN PROGRESSIVE AND PROSPEROUS MALAYSIA.

The ISA was introduced in the era when the Malayan Communist Party fought to control the country, at which time Tunku Abdul Rahman was the Prime Minister.

Communism is not a threat any more. Chin Peng the chief of the Malayan Communist Party surrendered at a widely publicised surrender ceremony at Baling. Later Russia and China, the two largest communist countries in the world, also announced their rejection of communism to dominate the world.
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Malaysian Evasion

The Prime Minister should abolish the ISA.
Wall Street Journal | OPINION ASIA | AUGUST 3, 2009, 4:20 P.M. ET

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak promised in April that his government would conduct a “comprehensive review” of the Internal Security Act, a colonial-era law that allows indefinite detention without trial. On Saturday, 10,000 Malaysians marched in the streets of Kuala Lumpur to hold him to his word, asking him to abolish the act. They were soon dispersed with tear gas and water cannons, and 589 people were arrested.

The confrontation marks a turning point for Mr. Najib’s administration, which until now has refrained from employing roughshod tactics against political opponents. Earlier he won praise for releasing 26 ISA detainees and using that law to detain terrorists, not politicians or journalists as his predecessor did.

But even given that restraint, Malaysians increasingly want a more transparent and freer society. Saturday’s protest was nominally about the ISA, and it was organized by Abolish the ISA Movement, a human-rights group, along with other NGOs. But it was also a larger vote of dissatisfaction with the government’s decision to press ahead with a show trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and the unexplained death last month of a young opposition political aide following several hours of interrogation by anti-corruption officials. Politicians from all three opposition parties were present at the protest, including Mr. Anwar.
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Police arrest of 589 people in crackdown of peaceful “Abolish ISA” assembly a “black eye” to Police and BN human rights but which Najib and Hishammuddin seem to regard as a “badge of honour”!

It is indeed both tragic and pathetic.

The mass arrest of 589 people in the harsh police crackdown of the peaceful patriotic “Abolish ISA” assembly in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday using excessive force and indiscriminate firing of tear gas and chemically-laced water cannon at all and sundry, including women and children, passers-by and the residents in the vicinity, is a veritable “black eye” to the police and the Barisan Nasional human rights record – nationally and internationally as evidenced by the very critical and damaging international media coverage.

But to Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and their other Cabinet Ministers, the “black day” in the Kuala Lumpur streets of August 1, 2009 – where it is not the peaceful patriotic tens of thousands who caused breaches of peace and disorder with their remarkable discipline and commitment to peaceful protest but the “disciplined” 5,000-strong police force on the directives of their police superiors – and the “black eye” to the police and Barisan Nasional human rights record are regarded as a “badge of honour”!
Continue reading “Police arrest of 589 people in crackdown of peaceful “Abolish ISA” assembly a “black eye” to Police and BN human rights but which Najib and Hishammuddin seem to regard as a “badge of honour”!”

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Malaysian Arrests Put in Question Vow of Rights

By THOMAS FULLER
Published: August 2, 2009
New York Times / International Herald Tribune

BANGKOK — Soon after coming to power four months ago, Najib Razak, the Malaysian prime minister, vowed to temper the country’s repressive laws and respect civil liberties though they have often been ignored.

But Malaysia’s honeymoon of liberalism hit the rocks over the weekend, when the police broke up a large rally in Kuala Lumpur, arresting nearly 600 people and reaffirming the governing party’s longstanding policy of zero tolerance toward street protests.

Opposition parties, which organized the rally, were calling for the repeal of a law that allows the government to jail its critics indefinitely without charge. The opposition is also pressing the government to expand an inquiry into the recent death under mysterious circumstances of a political aide after a late-night interrogation by anticorruption officials.
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So who has ‘Misunderstood’ the ISA?

By Farish A. Noor

It is now being claimed by some that the Internal Security Act has been ‘misunderstood’ by a significant section of the Malaysian public, and if only they can be made to ‘understand’ it they would come to realise that it is after all a good tool that ought to be kept in the coffers of the state.

That such a claim can be made today is interesting, for at least it makes the concession that there are enough Malaysians out there who reject the manifold uses and abuses of the ISA so as to warrant the call to have it abolished, or at least so radically revised that it cannot be abused further. However we are left with the question: Who, exactly, has ‘misunderstood’ the ISA? The Malaysian public or the politicians who run the country?
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Release of ISA 13, including Hindraf 3 – why not today?

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s announcement of the release of 13 Internal Security Act detainees, including the three Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders, P Uthayakumar, M Manoharan, T Vasanthakumar, is most welcome.

However, why is Hishammuddin unable to release them immediately today instead of the “next two or three days”.

If the police can effect arrests with immediate effect, why can’t they effect releases when such a decision is taken?

Is Hishammuddin aware that one of the three mottos of the new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is “Performance Now”?

It does not speak well for the competence and efficiency either of the Home Minister or the Special Branch if they cannot release all the 13 by today, instead of having to wait the “next two or three days”.

If there is no way to effect the immediate release of the 13 today, then the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of KPIs for Ministers, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon should take note, as the KPI of Hishammuddin should be downgraded for disregard of Najib’s “Performance Now” motto.

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Police mayhem

Firstly, the excessive police force and violence at yesterday peaceful candlelight vigil to campaign for “No to ISA” and mark the first anniversary BERSIH campaign for free, fair and clean elections must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

It shows that the police has completely forgotten the important recommendation of the Royal Police Commission that the police force should become an efficient, professional, incorruptible world-class police service with three priority objectives – to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and respect human rights.

If the Royal Police Commission recommendations had been taken seriously, the shameful and disgraceful episode in Petaling Jaya yesterday, where some 23 people were arrested including DAP MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua, DAP Selangor State Exco Ronnie Liu and DAP Selangor State Assemblyman for Kampong Tunku Lau Weng San would not have happened.

Why is the massive deployment of police personnel to break up a peaceful gathering of Malaysians to campaign for freedom, justice and democracy by excessive police force and violence continue to be a greater priority and more important police agenda than the mobilization of police personnel to keep crime low and restore to Malaysians, tourists and investors their fundamental right and freedom to be safe from crime and the fear of crime? Continue reading “Police mayhem”

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Urgent motion in Parliament – no to Hamid’s appeal to court to re-arrest RPK

I have given notice to the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to move an urgent motion of definite public importance in Parliament tomorrow urging the Cabinet to overrule Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar’s decision to appeal against the Shah Alam High Court decision to free Malaysia Today website editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin from Internal Security Act (ISA) detention.

My motion, under Standing Order 18, deplores Hamid’s decision to appeal as “utter contempt for the fundamental concept of the rule of law and the most rudimentary commitment to human rights in the country”.

The motion said:

“In ordering Raja Petra’s release after a 56-day ISA detention, Shah Alam High Court judge Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad ruled in the blogger’s habeas corpus application that the Home Minister acted outside his powers in detaining Raja Petra under the ISA, as the grounds given for Raja Petra’s detention were insufficient rendering the ISA detention unlawful. Continue reading “Urgent motion in Parliament – no to Hamid’s appeal to court to re-arrest RPK”

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RPK’s rearrest under ISA – Cabinet/Parliament must overrule Hamid

Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar’s announcement in Kota Kinabalu last night that the Home Ministry will appeal against the Shah Alam High Court decision on Friday to free Malaysia Today website editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) is most deplorable and reprehensible.

It shows Hamid’s utter contempt for the fundamental concept of the rule of law and the most rudimentary commitment to human rights in the country.

In ordering Raja Petra’s release after a 56-day ISA detention, Shah Alam High Court judge Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad ruled in the blogger’s habeas corpus application that the Home Minister acted outside his powers in detaining Raja Petra under the ISA, as the grounds given for Raja Petra’s detention were insufficient rendering the ISA detention unlawful.

Syed Ahmad Helmy held that although Section 8 of the ISA on the detention order by the minister barred judicial review, there was a procedural non-compliance by the Minister resulting in an “ultra vires” order.

As illustration, the judge gave the example that the minister cannot act in bad faith to detain a person who decided to colour his hair red.

In actual fact, Hamid acted mala fide in a very substantive manner in issuing a detention order under Section 8 of the ISA late in the night of September 22 not because Raja Petra constituted a threat to national security but to frustrate the administration of justice and the rule of law by “killing off” Raja Petra’s earlier habeas corpus application. Continue reading “RPK’s rearrest under ISA – Cabinet/Parliament must overrule Hamid”