Rafzan Ramli is one of the "ISA 7" who have been acquitted

Aliran welcomes the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court decision today to acquit seven suspended university students after the prosecution failed to prove their involvement in an anti-Internal Security Act protest four years ago.

The demonstration was held outside the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur on June 8, 2001 but the prosecution even failed to prove that it was an illegal gathering.

The students had been banned from attending classes by the four universities where they were studying. They later appealed to the Education Ministry but the then Education Minister said they could only be reinstated if they apologised - a condition they did not accept. We congratulate the students for standing firm to their principles.

Four years of their lives have been wasted thanks to the universities' high-handed action in suspending them and to the police for taking them to court without just cause. They had been punished even before they could be found guilty - and now the court has thrown out the case. Such high-handed action by the authorities will only bolster demands for the Universities and University Colleges Act to be abolished.

We demand that the students be reinstated in their respective varsities without condition. Furthermore, the authorities must adequately compensate the students. The compensation should be large enough to deter similar actions by the authorities based on flimsy and frivolous grounds. This would also force the police to be more responsible in their actions.


Aliran Executive Committee
22 April 2005

---

Please support our work by buying a copy of our print publication, Aliran Monthly, from your nearest news-stand. Better still take out a subscription now. If you prefer to read our web-based edition, please support our work and make a donation.

---