zazain

Monday April 23

Only police know where ISA 8 being held: Zainal
Susan Loone

7:40pm, Mon: Eight reformasi activists detained under the Internal Security Act recently are safe but are being held at a location only known to the police, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Zainal Abidin Zin said today.

Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby said he himself did not know their whereabouts as the police have not informed him.

Zainal said he was not sure whether the eight are being held at the Kamunting detention centre in Taiping or at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

“The ISA detainees can be detained in any location the police deem safe and where police have the authority to detain them,” he said.

On April 10 and 11, seven pro-reformasi activists were detained for allegedly planning to overthrow the government via militant means.

They are Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua, party Youth leaders Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, N Gobalakrishnan, Abdul Ghani Haroon and Saari Sungib, Free Anwar Campaign (Freeanwar.com) webmaster Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin and social activist cum malaysiakini columnist Hishamuddin Rais.

Another Keadilan leader, Dr Badrul Amin Baharom was detained under the Act last Friday.

On the Human Rights Commision’s (Suhakam) recommendation to review the ISA, Zainal said the commission has presented its annual report to the House Speaker and the government would look into the matter.

Pros and cons

“We will also review comments made by MPs and we will have to see the pros and cons of the recommendations,” he said, adding that “the recommendations will be reviewed, not in the best interest of the government, but of the people”.

According to Zainal, the ISA is used to ensure peace and not political benefit.

“The ISA is not a trivial law, it is not a threat. We warned the ones arrested not to go against the law several times but they did it again and again. It is like they want to challenge us,” said Zainal.

“Is it wrong then for us to take action?,” he asked.

Commenting on whether there were grounds to arrest the eight, Zainal said: “Those who were arrested, let’s us say for demonstrating, will say they were arrested under the ISA for no reason. But if there was a man whose wife was going to give birth, and they were stuck in the middle of the road due to demonstrations, the family will not be angry with the government, they will be mad with the demonstrators.”

“Who will solve the problems caused by these demonstrators at that moment? These are the things which we are always worried about,” said the deputy minister.

Democratic process

On Suhakam’s recommendation the government provide a selected place for the public to assemble, Zainal instead queried the reason and need for demonstrating in a democratic country.

“If you want to make demands, make them during election time. The government is formed because of the decisions made by the rakyat. Why protest against their decision? It is as if what the majority wants is not recognised by those who demonstrate,” he said.

When malaysiakini responded that democracy was not about elections alone , Zainal replied, “Whatever the principles are, should I say they ( the people) have decided, we are given the power to form the government. Why is there a need to have 10,000 people express themselves, when individually they have already made up their minds?”