Anwar fails to get medical documents, defence wants to call Saiful and Farah to the stand

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s bid to obtain the medical documents for his defence in the Sodomy II trial suffered another blow after the Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that the decision made by the High Court stood which rejected the defence application. The decision was made by Datuk Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah who claimed that Anwar’s team did not have sufficient ‘legal basis’ to obtain the documents. The Court of Appeal was made up of 3 panel judges chaired by Datin Paduka Zaleha and Datuk Abdul Malik Ishak and Datuk Clement Allan Skinner.

The trial will resume on Monday and Karpal Singh, the lead counsel said that “The High Court will next deal with their bid to drop the sodomy charge against Anwar, based on the latter’s “assertions” of an affair between a deputy public prosecutor in the case, Farah Azlina Latif, and the complainant, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan. Neither Farah nor Saiful have denied the romantic link or challenged Anwar’s sworn statement, which puts the entire trial in question of being an abuse of the court process. Investigation papers come under the Official Secrets Act (OSA). We’re saying Farah had access and, therefore, Saiful had access,”

In a related development, Karpal added that the defence team will be calling on Saiful and Farah to the witness stand over their alleged intimate relationship



comments


No surprise because....

the verdict was written long time ago and no judge will be brave enough to change that since he would be send to the moon for doing so. A nice title and some other goodies are more preferable.

Anwar will go to jail and UMNO BN may not call for an election since they know they want win and since we are still under the emergency law, they can just skip it without problems.

So, wait and see if Malaysia will end up as another Myanmar or as a free and democratic country! The voter has to make a choice and vote wisely!


IT'S A CONSPIRACY, EVERYTHING WAS PRE PLANNED MONTHS BEFORE THE PERMATANG PAUH BY ELECTION !


KANGAROO COURT

KANGAROO JUSTICE

LAW OF THE JUNGLE

Umno warns of backlash over Soi Lek’s remarks

Umno leaders fired back today at MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek for accusing them of using religion to compete with PAS for Malay support, warning him that he risked triggering an adverse reaction from the Malay community.

“Dr Chua needs to stop doing this. He is shifting racial politics into religious politics.

“This is very dangerous. People might start blaming Islam because of what he said… they might blame Islam and say that corruption in the country is rampant because of the religion,” said Umno’s Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, who is also the former Selangor mentri besar.

Dr Chua, the MCA president, appeared to criticise Umno as well as PAS today for using religion to compete for Malay support.

He also blamed this on how the country had been trapped as a “middle income” nation for more than 10 years, claiming that the competition between the two Malay-centric parties had led to some “non-progressive policies”.

Dr Khir told The Malaysian Insider that Dr Chua’s remarks could cause unrest within the country, and disturb the “harmonic balance” created by the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

”We do not want to start blaming each other, pointing fingers… this leads into religious arguments. This is dangerous,” said Dr Khir.

The Selangor opposition leader said that the MCA president should instead focus on rebuilding an already fragmented MCA.

“Dr Chua should look into the Chinese problems. Why is there no support from the Chinese towards BN? In Selangor, there are virtually no new registered Chinese voters.

“I think Dr Chua is too influenced by western campaigns to discredit Islam as a religion. You will only end up making Malay leaders angry and more enemies,” said Dr Khir.

The Umno man insisted that there was nothing wrong with Umno reaching out to Malay voters with Islam, because Islam was part and parcel of the identity of the Malay party.

He dismissed Dr Chua’s remarks that Umno had become conservative in recent years.

“Umno is a progressive, open party. Under BN, we allow other members to join, to contest. We give rights to other races, and make sure everyone is happy.

“Islam is close to Umno, part of our life. You cannot ask for the religion to be separated from the party. It is a part of what Umno is,” said Dr Khir.

Umno Kota Belud MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan argued that Umno was a party that followed the wishes of its grassroots, and it will always be the voice of the Malays.

“Umno has always been the voice of the Malays. It is not about what Umno wants really… we are looking at the Malay heartbeat, sometimes they want Umno to be concerned with more religious issues,” said the Umno man.

Abdul Rahman told that Umno was neither liberal or conservative, and that it only responding to the needs of grassroot supporters.

“Umno is only reacting to the wishes of the grassroots. If the grassroots want Umno to be more liberal, we will be as we have been. But if there is a message that they want us to focus on religious issues, then we will do that too,” he said.

Abdul Rahman warned of the dangers of not protecting Malay interests, stressing that the majority race needed to be appeased to avoid any disruption to the existing stability of the country.

“It is important that the Bumiputera majority do not feel restless… they need to be contented, not threatened.

“1 Malaysia is already in place to ensure that everyone has a place in the country,” he said.

Meanwhile Perkasa’s Dr Zubir Harun warned Dr Chua not to politicise the issue of religion as it might lead to Malay voters rejecting BN in the next general elections.

“Chua Soi Lek should instead concentrate on rebuilding and rebranding MCA so that the party could get more Chinese voters.

“MCA should not politicise Islam because the party will alienate Malay voters and affect Barisan Nasional’s chances in the general election. MCA should also stop using the Allah issue to gain the support of non-Malay voters,” Dr Zubir told

Dr Chua had claimed that the competition between PAS and Umno had led to some “non-progressive policies” formed, resulting in Malaysia being trapped as a middle-income nation for the past 10 years.

His strong words suggest that MCA, the second largest party in the ruling coalition, is no longer content to be Umno’s junior partner.

The party recently came under criticism from Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the Umno deputy president, for apparently sharing DAP’s view that the “Allah” ban should be lifted.

MCA was forced to back down from its stand and its leaders were indirectly warned to back off after Muhyiddin announced the Cabinet’s directive to impose a gag order on all parties.

There is also a growing anger among MCA leaders over the recent prosecution of former party president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik over the Port Klang Free Zone scandal.



comments


The problem with UMNO, it always over react and can't accept other opinion. But when it comes to their leaders commenting on others religion - they have to accept. The beauty in PAS is alwalys logical and that is why they don't wish to engage with UMNO as they always deviate in their thinking bewteen religion and race.

its UMNO/BN games.....they have done this before....thats their style...now the MCA starts the ball rolling, then UMNO come in for the rescue and lastly the MIC will levelised the playing field...i dont think voters will buy that.....

Who is the cause of creeping Islamisation of the country, including our national schools, if not UMNO, for the sole purpose of political expediency? UMNO will go to any length to win over PAS malay supporters. Is this not using religion for political purposes? Why blame Dr Chua, he never started all this? Anyway, Dr Chua, Samy No Value, Kayveas and others, serve you fellas right. You danced to UMNO's tunes for nearly 50 years. They treated you fellas like Mandores, without any dignity, now you will soon be running with your tails between your legs, for sure. Folks, just wait and see, Dr Chua will take a big U-turn, like he did the other day.

Affair Claim Could Disrupt Sodomy Trial

Lawyers for the Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim moved on Monday to have sodomy charges against him dismissed, citing an allegation of a romantic link between a prosecutor and Mr. Anwar’s accuser.

The prosecutor, Farah Azlina Latif, was removed from the case last week after a Web site asserted that she was having an affair with Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a former aide to Mr. Anwar who says he sodomized him.

The attorney general told news outlets that Ms. Farah was removed from the prosecution team to protect its credibility with the public. The prosecution, in a letter to the defense, has said it was unable to verify the accusations of an affair.

At a hearing on Monday in the Kuala Lumpur High Court, where Mr. Anwar has been on trial since February, defense lawyers said the integrity of the prosecution had been compromised.

“This just supports our contention from the beginning that this is all a farce, a politically motivated trial and trumped-up charges,” Mr. Anwar said afterward. Arguments on the motion were scheduled for next week.

On Monday, Mr. Anwar filed a complaint with the police against Mr. Saiful and Ms. Farah. Karpal Singh, Mr. Anwar’s lead attorney, said that the defense was concerned that Ms. Farah might have passed court documents to Mr. Saiful, and that he wanted the police to investigate whether the two had violated the Official Secrets Act.

A prosecutor, Yusof Zainal Abiden, on Monday characterized the Web site’s accusation as “bare allegations” with no substance. The prosecution has said that Ms. Farah was junior member of the team with no access to confidential information.

Mr. Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, was convicted of sodomy and abuse of power in 1998. Although that sodomy conviction was later overturned, he spent six years in prison.

He has repeatedly said the new charges were another attempt to end his political career after the opposition made gains in the 2008 elections.

Cops say ex-Selangor rep and aide victims of murder-suicide

Police said today they are investigating the deaths of former Permatang assemblyman Abdul Aziz Mohd Noh and his 43-year-old female personal assistant as a case of murder-suicide.

“We believe it was a case of murder-suicide,” said Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar.

Abdul Aziz, 64, and his female aide Siti Rohana Ismat, 43, were shot in the head while driving in Sungai Buloh near here this afternoon.

The former two-term Permatang state assemblyman’s car went out of control and crashed into the highway divider.

Initial investigations revealed that there were gunshot wounds on both the victims’ heads. The gunshots were believed to have come from inside the car they were travelling in.

Khalid ruled out any political motive because the shots were fired from inside the car.

The CPO said the pistol used belonged to Abdul Aziz and was found in the car.

“We have witnesses who say that there were only two persons in the car at the time,” he said.

The vehicle was headed northbound towards Rawang when the incident happened at about 11.30am.

Khalid said post-mortems indicated that Abdul Aziz sustained two gunshot wounds while his aide had a single wound.

He said there were two bullets and three spent casings inside the revolver’s chamber.

Police are tight lipped on the relationship between the two-term Umno assemblyman and Siti Rohana.

Abdul Aziz did not contest in the last general elections.

Ex-Selangor rep, aide die in car crash after being shot

Former Selangor Umno assemblyman Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohd Noh, 64, and his female aide Siti Rohana Ismat, 43, were shot in the head while driving in Sungai Buloh near here today.

The former two-term Permatang state assemblyman’s car went out of control and crashed into the highway divider.

Selangor CPO Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar wrote on his Facebook status at about 1.25pm that initial investigations revealed that there were gunshot wounds on both the victims’ heads. The gunshots were believed to have come from inside the car they were travelling in.




"Update Kematian Dato Aziz.... pl dont speculate. Witnesses interviewed at the scene confirmed there were nobody else in the car," Khalid wrote in the latest update on his Facebook status line.

Police found a .38 pistol, believed to belong to Abdul Aziz (picture), in the car. The weapon is currently in police safekeeping.



comments


WOW. Interesting..... this will be very very interesting....
x-Assembly Man Posses Gun? For what reason ?

Wow. Interesting. He posted it on his FACEBOOK status!

Since when CPO gives out info on crime via facebook???

the drama begins.................... Facebook Mafia Wars?

Penang open tender spree shows up Putrajaya

The Penang government’s open tender spree in the past few months could put the federal government in a bad light as both strive to show the public that they stand for transparency and excellence.

While both have initiated efforts to make procurement more transparent to the public, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Penang government seems to have taken the lead with a stream of open tenders announcements for its big ticket items while the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government has appeared very slow off the mark.

Among landmark projects that were tendered out by the Penang state government include the multi-billion 100 acre Bayan Mutiara township project, the restoration of Fort Cornwallis, restoration of Crag Hotel, management of the Penang International Sports Arena and the Penang Hill facelift. Upcoming tenders include that for the Pulau Jerejak tourist development project.

In the case of the Bayan Mutiara project, the Penang government seems to have taken a leaf out of the Singapore playbook and has opened the tender to international bidders in an attempt to build an “iconic, prestigious and sustainable” development.

Singapore’s newest landmarks — the two world class integrated resorts (IR) at Sentosa Island and Marina Bay were built by international investors. A subsidiary of Malaysia’s own Genting Berhad had built the IR at Sentosa Island.

The federal government on the other hand has been slow to open up major projects to open tenders. The highly valuable 65 acre piece of government land in the prestigious Jalan Duta area was privatised last November to the Naza group without an open tender.

Other major parcels of land where open tenders have yet to be called for redevelopment include the 3,300 acre Malaysia Rubber Board land in Sungai Buloh and the redevelopment of the 400 acre Sungai Besi Airport and the development of the 85 acre KL Financial District. Other valuable tracts of land where no open tenders have been called include 204 acres of government land in Jalan Cochrane and land at Jalan Peel and Jalan Lidcol.

The open tender debate in Malaysia is a politically charged one as it is widely acknowledged that many if not most government contracts and licenses go to companies controlled by persons close to the political leadership. As companies are not selected based on merit, completed projects and public services are often of poor quality despite high costs and subject to much public complaint.

Both governments also maintain public procurement portals but Penang had launched its portal first. The federal government portal — MyProcurement — also suffered the embarrassment of having glaring data entry errors discovered just a few days after being launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

While Najib has taken steps to tidy up procurement and the New Economic Model (NEM) framework mooted by his administration has also stressed the need for open tenders, the slow pace at which such reforms are taking place under his administration are leaving many wondering if anything has really changed.

The danger for the prime minister than is that the island state will prove to be much more serious in terms of public accountability and performance and his government will suffer in comparison.

While some expressed fears that the Penang open tender system would penalise Bumiputeras, Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng quashed such claims and revealed in January that 70 per cent of tenders from two state owned firms were won by Bumiputera contractors.

He said that Malay contractors had won 16 out of 23 tender awards, or 70 per cent, from the Penang Development Corporation(PDC) and 44 out of 66 or 67 per cent of contracts issued by the Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang(PBAPP) in open tenders since March 2008.

Najib has had to contend with continued demand for quotas set aside for Malay contractors after he said the NEM will free the economy and make it more competitive.

Malay rights group point out that the BN government has yet to meet the 30 per cent target for Malay equity with just nearly 20 per cent since the New Economic Policy (NEP) came to effect in 1970.

But detractors say the amount does not include equity by government units and companies investing on behalf of the Malays and Bumiputeras such as PNB and others.



comments


That certainly goes to show BN still has not learn any lessons from the previous GE , and think they can still do whatever they want , including giving projects to their cronies . I m sure when you really scrutinized the past projects , most would have gone to the selected few . Well done Penang !! Please continue to show other parties can definitely perform better than those Mathematically-challenged ministers in BN . Maybe can consult with MM Lee in Singapore ?

Old habits die hard.Easy money.Why should I call for open tender.I have so many cronies.You help me I help you.Thats my principle and style of doing things.

Open tenders are so basic to transparency and good governance that its a wonder we Malaysians have allowed the BN crooks to get away for so long ..... we were forced and fooled by MM and his corrupt cronies, but no more..enough is enough. Come GE 13 show them the door.!!!

30 activists detained in GMI gathering released: Selangor CPO

Thirty activists, including eight women, detained for participating in an illegal gathering organised by the Abolish the ISA Movement (GMI) outside a shopping complex here last night, were released in stages today.

Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said the activists were released on police bail after their statements were recorded.

“However, it does not mean that they will not be recalled. We will recall them, if necessary,” he said when contacted here today.

The gathering was held to call for the Internal Security Act (ISA) to be abolished.

Among the activists detained last night were GMI chairman Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh and Parti Sosialis Malaysia secretary-general S. Arutchelvan.

Being ISA detainee ‘095’ for seven years

It took four hours for the police to search his house but to the timid Mat Sah Mohammed Satray, it was best not to utter a word of complaint.

Hands clenched into fists and forced together by the uncomfortable metal of handcuffs, the 39-year-old perched nervously on a two-seater settee in his living room as they raided his home.

Their movements woke his son who burst into tears at the sight of his father in handcuffs.

Mat Sah tried to carry the eight-year-old child onto his lap to comfort him but failed because his hands were bound.

His mind was in a state of confusion. He was desperately trying to understand why he was sitting there, handcuffed in his own home.

His only source of strength stood beside him. Norlaila Othman, his wife, kept silent too as she watched the police turn their house upside down but her quiet presence was reassuring.

The police took pains to search every nook and cranny of the couple’s modest home in Taman Keramat but never said a word of what they were looking for.

There were at least seven of them in the tiny house — six in plainclothes and one, an assistant superintendant, in uniform. They had arrived shortly after midnight on April 18, 2002, armed with a small suspicion that, unknown to Mat Sah and his wife, would later change the course of their lives.

“We have information that you have been involved in activities that are a threat to national security. We are arresting you,” the uniformed officer had told a bewildered looking Mat Sah, who had earlier answered the door.

The search through his house later only stopped when one officer found a bright red book in a cabinet of the third room in their single-storey home.

Mat Sah still remembers the book — it was bright red in colour and told of stories during the communist insurgency. It was one of his few favourites among the extensive collection of old books he had obtained during his work as a technician in Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

“This is it. This is just what we want,” Mat Sah claimed one officer said while waving the book around.

When they were done at about 4.30am that morning, the policemen led Mat Sah away.

Alarmed, Norlaila, with the frightened Suhaid in her arms, trailed her husband to the gate.

“A female officer told me — do not worry. We will take care of him. Just cooperate and everything will be fine. He will come home soon,” she said.

What she did not know was that “home” meant the walls of confinement at the infamous ISA detention camp in Kamunting, Perak.

She also did not know she would have no avenue to question the injustice of his detention, no avenue to seek legal redress, no avenue to put in any form of complaint.

That is, after all, the primary and most highly criticised provision in the 50-year-old Internal Security Act 1960 — the power to detain a person without granting trial.

“My husband, the soft-spoken, kind-hearted man I married, was accused of being a terrorist. And they took him away from me for seven years because they thought he would be a threat to national security. He was detained on a mere suspicion,” Norlaila said.

As she spoke, the school teacher kept stroking the arm of her husband, who is today finally free from the clutches of the security law, as if reassuring herself that he was really there.

The couple were relating their harrowing experience with the ISA to The Malaysian Insider during an interview at their new home in Taman Melewar, Gombak, here recently.

Mat Sah said that from his home, he was brought in a white van to the Ampang police station and then to the Sentul police station where his information was taken down and photographs snapped.

“They they gave me a pair of goggle-like glasses to wear. The lens was painted black so I could not see where I was going. I was made to enter the van again but I did not know where they were taking me.

“The only thing they told me, repeatedly, was that I was a terrorist. Over and over again, they said I was detained because I was a terrorist,” he said, adding that he was too frightened to respond to the allegations.

Mat Sah was then brought to the police remand center (PRC) on Jalan Ipoh where he was given a lockup uniform, a pail, a plastic tumbler, a bar of soap and a small toothbrush.

“From then on, I no longer had a name. I was no longer Mat Sah. I was called ‘095’. I could never forget those numbers,” he said.

His cell, he recalled, was just small enough for a tiny bed and mini shower cubicle. It was windowless and only had a small screen on the ceiling for ventilation.

“It was so dirty. I had to clean it up myself. And it stank of mould.

“There was one small bulb above me to brighten the room. The door was made of heavy metal and had a small flap that could only be opened from the outside. They passed me my meals through that flap,” he said.

Mat Sah said his first thought when he was led into the dirty cell was: “It’s over.”

Every day from 9am to 5pm for the next three weeks of his life in confinement, Mat Sah was interrogated.

“They asked my painful questions. Sometimes I would get upset and I would cry, not out of sadness but out of frustration.

“Imagine, they would even ask me personal questions like the number of times I had sex with my wife. I would get so... ‘geram’,” he said.

He added that his interrogators were fixated on his relationship with influential Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who was once arrested in relation to the Bali bombings in 2002 and was also accused of being the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyyah (JI), an international terror group reportedly dedicated to establishing an Islamic state in the Southeast Asia.

The latter has since been acquitted of his involvement in the bombings due to insufficient evidence by the Indonesian authorities.

Abu Bakar used to deliver lectures for Muslims working at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and Mat Sah was in the study group formed by the influential scholar.

“And that became the basis for my detention. But what did I do? He was just a lecturer and yes, I have listened to his speeches. But at that time, can you imagine, I never even knew what JI was. I never knew it existed,” he said.

His wife said that the very next day after Mat Sah was detained, newspaper reports claimed that he was a part of a group of 13 others who were detained on suspicion that they were members of the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (Malaysian militant group) who were planning an attack on Port Klang.

“When I visited him and my son showed him the newspaper clipping, he got a shock. He said he was never asked by interrogators if he had plans to destroy Port Klang,” said Norlaila.

She added that the police officers and Mat Sah’s interrogators would advise them repeatedly not to engage lawyers to help them or speak to politicians or reporters.

“They would tell me — if you speak to these people, your husband would never be set free.

“They also said that lawyers were merely out to earn my money. I believed them. I did not know my rights and I was afraid. So I kept quiet and just prayed he would be released,” she said.

Mat Sah was detained at the PRC for 55 days, which he only knew by his collection of the rubber bands that were used to tie up his food containers.

“I had no watch and no way of knowing the time. So every time they gave me my food, I would keep the rubber bands to keep track of the number of days I was in there,” he said.

On June 12, 2002, Mat Sah received more bad news.

“They came into my cell and gave me a letter telling me that I was to be detained for two years under the ISA. I had no reaction. I just felt so... useless,” he said.

The next day, Mat Sah was checked into the ISA detention camp in Kamunting, which eventually became his home for the next seven years.

“The first two years he was detained, I said nothing. I did not fight. I did not try to seek for help. I prayed that our obedience would win him his freedom,” said Norlaila, adding that she would visit him at the camp weekly.

When Mat Sah’s detention was extended for another two years however, Norlaila’s patience broke.

“It was just before Pak Lah announced the 11th general election in 2004. I started engaging with non-governmental organisations and lawyers. I sought and lost my habeas corpus application in court. I started to travel the country and internationally, seeking for justice,” she said.

Her struggle however, did not come without some backlash. In 2006, when her husband’s detention order was up for review, he was told he would stay for another two years.

“They told me that my wife was causing trouble outside. They advised me to tell her to stop. To keep quiet and stop fighting.

“I did tell her but then there is a bigger picture that we had to look at. It was not just my detention but also those of the others who suffered with me because of the ISA,” he said.

With her husband’s green light, Norlaila continued her struggle. She became a committee member in the Abolish ISA Movement (GMI) and spearheaded signature drives across the country.

She took two years leave from teaching and survived on the donations from a good samaritan living in the US, who knew of her story.

In 2006, Norlaila managed to meet with Pak Lah or Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was still the country’s prime minister at the time.

“My friend told me he was giving out mock cheques to some Felda settlers. So I took our memorandum, slipped it into an envelope and went to the function.

“We managed to corner him when he was visiting some stalls at the function. I gave him the enveloped and pleaded with him to release my husband. He told me he did not know my husband had been imprisoned,” she said.

When Pak Lah’s security guards began closing in on her, Norlaila said she ran to her car and sped away as soon as she could.

Her brave actions did not however come without negative repercussions. The very next day, claimed Norlaila, Mat Sah was thrown into solitary confinement.

“I was told that my wife was too active outside. They took me from my dormitory and put me into a small room, similar to the one I was in when I was at the PRC,” he said.

“I was upset when I heard about it but I knew that I should not let it stand in my way. I would get flak from his parents too. But my friends and the other activists told me to be strong. The struggle has to go on,” she said.

The pinnacle of Norlaila’s fight for her husband came during the planned peaceful protest during the ISA anniversary on August 1 last year.

At the time, tens of thousands flooded the streets of Kuala Lumpur in a mass rally to submit a petition to the Agong at Istana Negara, denouncing the ISA and calling for its abolition.

During the protest, riot police fired tear gas and sprayed chemical-laced water to break the crowd. Over 400 people were arrested, including Norlaila and her 16-year-old son were arrested.

“But our message was clear. We wanted the ISA removed,” she said.

Mat Sah, along with four others — Abdullah Daud, Ahmad Kamil M. D. Hanapiah, Mohd Nasir Ismail and Muhammad Amir M., D. Hanapiah — was finally released on September 15 last year on condition that he would report to the Ampang police weekly and would not stay out of his residence past 10pm.

The parole system, however, finally expired on June 12 this year and today, Mat Sah, now 47 years old, is finally a free man.

Despite this, he still feels his freedom has its limits, as long as the ISA still exists.

He looks over his back wherever he goes and is afraid of rejoining the work field. He fears that people would judge him. The ISA, he said, hangs like a guillotine above his head.

“People may not feel anything but it is in me. In my heart, in my mind. The ISA can never leave me,” he said.

Now that he has been released, Mat Sah is likely to join his wife in her struggle to abolish the ISA.

He believes that his personal experience would serve as a good reminder to the people that when it came to the ISA, no one would be spared.

“The ISA is truly a cruel law. I felt the brunt of it. The torture may not have been physical, but I have been scarred for life, mentally. They turned me into a fool. They can do anything to you and you cannot question them. They can detain whomever they want to,” he said.

Mat Sah urged the public to read up about the ISA and to learn their rights.

“You must know that the ISA determines everything — it determines your life. If they tell you ‘you are a terrorist’, that means that you have to nod your head.

“Because with the ISA, everyone can be a terrorist,” he said.



comments

No one, should be given such powers. The ISA must stop.

UMNO pray? That's a good one! Nothing to do with Islam, you know ! :)

Although he is UMNO's Imam Hadhari, to me he is nothing but the seller of block L and M