Latest arrest of ISA

Ever heard of what is ISA??

The Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA) (Malay: Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri) is a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. The legislation was inherited by Malaysia after it gained independence from Britain in 1957. In essence, it allows for the arrest of any person without the need for trial in certain defined circumstances. Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world whose Constitution allows for preventive detention during peacetime without safeguards that elsewhere are understood to be basic requirements for protecting fundamental human rights.

Preventive detention first became a feature of the then Malaya in 1948 primarily to combat the armed insurgency of the Malayan Communist Party. The Emergency Regulations Ordinance 1948 was made, following the proclamation of an emergency, by the British High Commissioner Sir Edward Gent. It allowed the detention of persons for any period not exceeding one year. The 1948 ordinance was primarily made to counter acts of violence and, conceivably, preventive detention was meant to be temporary in application. The emergency ended in 1960 and with it ended the powers contained in the that ordinance as it was repealed. The power of preventive detention was however not relinquished and in fact became an embedded feature of Malaysian law. In 1960 itself, the government passed the Internal Security Act under Article 149 of the Malaysian Constitution. It permitted the detention, at the discretion of the Home Minister, without charge or trial of any person in respect of whom the Home Minister was satisfied that such detention was necessary to prevent him or her from acting in any manner prejudicial to national security or to the maintenance of essential services or to the economic life in Malaysia. The ISA is one of the most controversial Acts enacted under Article 149 of the Malaysian Constitution.

Detention

ISA detainees are typically held at the Kamunting Detention Center.

First 60 days

A person detained under the ISA during the first 60 days is held incommunicado, with no access to the outside world. Furthermore, lawyers and family members are not allowed access to the detainee during this initial period. If a two-year detention order is signed, the detainee is taken to the Kamunting Detention Centre to serve his or her two-year term, during which family members are allowed to visit. Otherwise, the detainee may be released.

The following list shows known current and former detainees under the Internal Security Act:

Year	Name	Detention Period	Role	Reason for Detention
1974	Anwar Ibrahim	20 months	student protester
1987	Lim Kit Siang	2 Years	DAP Secretary General	Operation Lalang
1987	Chandra Muzaffar	released either conditionally or unconditionally	ALIRAN President Chandra Muzaffar	Operation Lalang
1987	Chan Kit Chee	released either conditionally or unconditionally	MCA Vice President and Perak	Operation Lalang
1987	Karpal Singh	2 Years	DAP Deputy Chairman	Operation Lalang
1987	Halim Arshat	released either conditionally or unconditionally	PAS Youth Chief	Operation Lalang
1987	Ibrahim Ali	released either conditionally or unconditionally	UMNO MP for Pasir Mas	Operation Lalang
1987	Fahmi Ibrahim	released either conditionally or unconditionally	UMNO Youth Education	Operation Lalang
1987	Dong Jiao Zhong	released either conditionally or unconditionally	Chinese Education Associations	Operation Lalang
1987	Lim Fong Seng	released either conditionally or unconditionally	Chairman Chinese Education Associations	Operation Lalang
1987	Kua Kia Soong	released either conditionally or unconditionally	Publicity Chief of the Civil Rights Committee	Operation Lalang
1987	Irene Xavier	released either conditionally or unconditionally	WAO Member	Operation Lalang
1987	Hilmy Noor	released either conditionally or unconditionally	accused for "disrupting the Malay culture by being a Christian"	Operation Lalang
1990-1991	Abdul Rahman Ahmad		Assistant Superintendent of Police, Special Branch	arrested during Operation Talkak
1990-1991	Albinus Yudah		opposition party member, member of Kadazan Cultural Association	arrested during Operation Talkak
1990-1991	Benedict Topin		opposition party member, Executive Secretary of Kadazan Cultural Association	arrested during Operation Talkak
1990-1991	Damit Undikai		retired Special Branch police officer	arrested during Operation Talkak
1990-1991	Jeffrey Kitingan		opposition politician, director of the Institute for Development Studies	arrested during Operation Talkak
1990-1991	Maximus Ongkili		deputy chief director of the Institute for Development Studies	arrested during Operation Talkak
1990-1991	Vincent Chung		administrator, Sabah Foundation	arrested during Operation Talkak
1998	Anwar Ibrahim		Sodomy and corruption (Deputy Prime Minister)
2001	Yazid Sufaat		Jemaah Islamiyah suspected terrorist
2001	Raja Petra Kamarudin	52 days	Blogger of Malaysia Today
2007	K. Kengadhadran		Hindu Rights Action Force activist (Lawyer)	Organize Hindraf mass rally in KL November 2007
2007	M. Manoharan		Hindu Rights Action Force activist (Lawyer)	Organize Hindraf mass rally in KL November 2007
2007	P. Uthayakumar,		Hindu Rights Action Force activist (Lawyer)	Organize Hindraf mass rally in KL November 2007
2007	T. Vasantha Kumar		Hindu Rights Action Force activist (Lawyer)	Organize Hindraf mass rally in KL November 2007
2007	K. Ganabathi Rao		Hindu Rights Action Force activist (Lawyer)	Organize Hindraf mass rally in KL November 2007
2008	Raja Petra Kamarudin		Blogger of Malaysia Today	Accused of insulting islamic religion
2008	Tan Hoon Cheng	18 hours	Journalist, Sin Chew Jit Poh	Accused of writing a report (on Ahmad Ismail's Incendiary Racist Remarks) that may incite hatred among the Malay and Chinese. The Home Minister later explained she was detained as her security was threatened, which is irrelevant
2008	Teresa Kok Suh Sim	7 days	Member of Parliament, Seputeh	Accused of insulting islamic religion

Criticism

An artist's portrayal of the Internal Security Act. The law has attracted criticism when dealing with civil rights issues.

Due to the alleged draconian nature of the ISA, several human rights organisations and opposition political parties have strongly criticised the act and called for its repeal. Foreign governments, notably that of the United States, have also pressured the government to repeal the act.

Latest ISA arrest will be on Raja Petra

On Sept 6, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar had warned the 58-year old editor of popular news portal Malaysia Today he could be charged under the ISA for comments allegedly insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad

Several religious groups - Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim), Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (Maiwp) and Federal Territory Religious Department (Jawi) - had lodged police reports against him.

The groups complained his comment in an article entitled “I Promise to be a good, non-hypocritical Muslim” allegedly used sentences that insulted Muslims.

Raja Petra, popularly known by his initials RPK, is also alleged to have allowed comments to appear on his website that degraded Islam and Prophet Muhammad in an article entitled “Not all Arabs are descendants of the Prophet

Meanwhile, his wife Marina said they had yet to appoint a lawyer to handle the matter.

This is the second time Raja Petra, a father of five and part of the Selangor royal family, has been detained under ISA, which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

His first arrest under the tough security law was on Apr 11, 2001. RPK was detained as part of a crackdown against reformasi activists in which nine others were also held. At that time he was webmaster for the now de-funct FreeAnwar.com

Raja Petra was released after 52 days in detention. However, six of the reformasi leaders were eventually sent to the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping where they were detained for two years.

According to Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, the 58-year old father of five would be detained under Section 73(1) of the ISA, which allows for detention of up to 60 days.

“The police will do an assessment during this period and if they feel he should be held more than 60 days, the police will then refer to me,” Syed Hamid was quoted as saying by The Star.

The minister also confirmed that the Sin Chew Daily, The Sun and Suara Keadilan were issued show cause letters. “They have been given a week to reply,” he added.

Raja Petra’s wife Marina Lee Abdullah earlier told Malaysiakini that 10 police personnel from Bukit Aman came to their home in Sungai Buloh at about 1.10pm to arrest him.

When Malaysiakini contacted her at 1.25pm, the police personnel were still there. However, Raja Petra - popularly known by his initials RPK - was taken away to an unknown destination at 1.50pm. The police also confiscated some books and VCDs.

Marina showed the notice from the police which listed out all the items they have taken from the house (right).

Raja Petra is expected to be held under police’s custody for up to 60 days before being sent to the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping, Perak, where ISA detainees are incarcerated.

On Sept 6, Syed Hamid had warned that RPK, who edits the popular news portal Malaysia Today, could be charged under the ISA for comments allegedly insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad.

The minister said several religious groups - Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim), Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (Maiwp) and Federal Territory Religious Department (Jawi) - had lodged police reports against him.

The groups had complained Raja Petra’s comment in an article entitled ‘I promise to be a good, non-hypocritical Muslim’ allegedly used sentences that insulted Muslims.

The government ordered the blocking of the Malaysia Today website two weeks ago, but the ban was lifted yesterday.

The ban together with Syed Hamid’s warning to invoke the ISA had sparked a public furore against government censorship of the Internet.

Opposition parties too accused Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration of attempting to gag the press in a bid to salvage his party’s sinking popularity.

Second time under ISA

Raja Petra is also alleged to have allowed comments to appear on his website that degraded Islam and Prophet Muhammad in an article entitled “Not all Arabs are descendants of the Prophet”.

This is the second time that RPK, a member of the Selangor royal family, has been detained under ISA, which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

His first arrest under the tough security law was on April 10, 2001. RPK was detained as part of a crackdown against reformasi activists in which nine others were also held.

At that time, he was webmaster for the now defunct FreeAnwar.com site.

Raja Petra was subsequently released after 53 days in detention. However, six of the reformasi leaders were eventually sent to the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping where they were detained for two years.

Charged earlier for sedition, defamation

The controversial blogger was earlier charged with sedition and defamation after linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman.

In that case, a close friend of the deputy premier - Abdul Razak Baginda - was charged with abetting the murder of 28-year-old Altantuya Shaariibuu, whose body was blown up with explosives.

Two police officers from an elite force, whose duties included guarding the prime minister and Najib, were also charged with the killing.

The ISA, which human rights groups have pushed to have abolished, provides for renewable two-year periods of detention without trial and is normally used against suspected terrorists.

It has also been used to lock up opponents of the government, and last year five Hindraf leaders were detained three weeks after mounting a mammoth rally in the streets of Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25.

Malaysia Today is a popular Malaysian news blog. It is known for being critical of both the governing Barisan Nasional coalition and opposition parties such as the Democratic Action Party and Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Its founder and editor is Raja Petra Kamarudin, a former political detainee. Founded in August 2004, it has claimed that it has received almost 100 million hits since then, and alleges it has a readership larger than that of the New Straits Times, a major English language daily newspaper in Malaysia. ^[1] According to The Star, Malaysia Today receives 1.5 million hits a day, and is one of the top ten political sites in Malaysia.^[2] The website is currently hosted in neighbouring Singapore.

Note: the URL of Raja Petra's website is "www.malaysia-today.net". A site with a similar address, "www.malaysiatoday.com", is unrelated.

How do you think about this issue? What are your perspectives or what have you perceived?? Is this what we called democracy(partially, fully)? What do you think about ISA itself and the ones that are “using” it for the sake of “justice” and “societal harmony”? Time to ponder now.

get more information throught the links below:

>>Raja Petra Kamarudin

>>Raja Petra ‘arrested under ISA'

>>IS"", the scourge of our modern society

>>Do Raja Petra Justice: Abolish the IS""

>>Malaysia Today

prepared by Vance and Yusoff