More ISA arrests: Down the path to greater authoritarianism

Aliran strongly condemns the arrest of sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim and 11 of his closest supporters under the obnoxious Internal Security Act.

The 11 supporters detained without trial included four politicians seen as opposing the UMNO leadership: UMNO Youth leader Zahid Hamidi, Negri Sembilan UMNO Youth chief Ruslan Kasim, a state assemblyman, and an  UMNO division head.

The academics held are UIA student affairs rector Prof. Dr. Siddiq Baba and Institute of Policy Research chairman Kamaruddin Jaffar. Also picked up were the top four officials of ABIM (the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement) and the president of the Malaysian National Muslim Students Association.

Once again, the ISA is being used to silence opponents of the political leadership and to create a culture of fear. The move to detain politicians, academics and youth leaders who have opposed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is clearly retrogressive and sends Malaysia further down the path of authoritarianism.

Police have said that they are investigating the twelve for their role in the unrest on Sunday, when tens of thousands of Malaysians took to the streets calling for reforms. Instead of detaining these 12 individuals, police should have arrested the few individuals - who could be unrelated to Anwar’s ‘reform movement’- who actually damaged the lobby area of the Putra World Trade Centre. In the past, certain quarters have planted trouble-makers to cause mischief during peaceful meetings to discredit the organisers, thus providing the police with an excuse to intervene and crack down.

The government should realise that the Malaysian people are becoming increasingly sceptical about the accusations levelled against those detained under the ISA. By not producing concrete evidence to substantiate the charges in an open court and by denying the accused the right to defend themselves, the government has lost whatever little credibility it had left. The allegations against Anwar and the others detained should be stringently tested in a fair and open trial presided by judges of unimpeachable credentials.

Aliran calls on the government to desist from arresting more Malaysians under the ISA. Instead, it should unconditionally release all those already detained or charge them in court for specific offences according to internationally accepted legal procedures.
 

Aliran Executive Committee
22 September 1998