ISA’ed for two years!

PETALING JAYA: Five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders have been arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The five are P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, R. Kenghadharan, V. Ganabatirau and T. Vasanthakumar. They were picked up at various locations in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Seremban.

It is learnt they were detained under Section 8 (1) of the ISA after Internal Security Minister Datuk Seri Abdulah Ahmad Badawi signed their detention order.

Their detention is for two years.

Uthayakumar and two others namely Ganabatirau and P. Waythamoorthy were charged under the Sedition Act on Nov 23 in Klang 23 for allegedly making speeches to incite hatred at a gathering in Batang Berjuntai, Selangor, on Nov 16. Waythamoorthy is currently overseas.

Under Section 73 (1) of the ISA, the police can detain any individual for up to 60 days without a warrant, trial and without access to legal counsel if he was suspected to have “acted or is about to act or is likely to act in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to maintenance of essential services therein or to the economic life thereof.”

After 60 days, the Minister of Home Affairs can extend the period of detention without trial for up to two years, without submitting any evidence for review by the courts, by issuing a detention order, which is renewable indefinitely.

Just because ’some morons’ had claimed that HINDRAF has a purported link with terrorist groups, specifically those LTTEs, shouldn’t the government conduct an in-depth thorough investigation in order to prove this reckoned allegation?

Oh my, I can’t believe a simple objective of HINDRAF in handing over a memorandum to the UK government (Queen) or to be exact, to perform a peaceful assembly, had been badly exaggerated to the extent that, several people had been prosecuted with murder charge, the organisation being associated with terrorist groups, and the latest, the provocation of the infamous ISA!

The following excerpt were taken from Wikipedia :

Torture is reportedly a major part of an ISA detainee’s daily life. Former detainees have testified to being subjected to severe physical and psychological torture that include one or more of the following: physical assault, forced nudity, sleep deprivation, round-the-clock interrogation, death threats, threats of bodily harm to family members, including threats of rape and bodily harm to their children. Also, detainees are confined in individual and acutely small cells with no light and air, in what is believed to be secret holding cells. These interrogation techniques and acts of torture are designed to humiliate and frighten detainees into revealing their weaknesses and breaking down their defences.

Hope that neither of these would happen to them! Stay calm leaders!!