FAC News - Wednesday, February 27, 2002 4:31 PM

THE ISA HABEAS CORPUS APPEAL HEARING – Day 3 – ISA is to combat Communist Terrorists

The Internal Security Act (ISA) was enacted specifically to combat the Communist Terrorists in the Malayan jungle the Kuala Lumpur Federal Court was told today on the third day of the Habeas Corpus appeal hearing.

Five ISA detainees – National Justice Party Youth Leader Ezam Mohd Nor, Saari Sungib, Tian Chua, Hishamuddin Rais and Raja Petra Kamarudin (who has since been released) – are applying to get their arrest and detention over various dates in April 2001 declared illegal.

One of the points in their argument to contest their detention is that the ISA, which was meant to be used against the Communist Terrorists, was used instead against them. Therefore, this makes their detention under the ISA invalid.

The court was told that during the Emergency in 1960, the late Tun Razak, Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister then, tabled the proposed law for Parliament’s approval. Before the law was passed, however, it was heavily debated and the Member of Parliament for Ipoh then stood up to question the purpose of the law.

Tun Razak then pointed out that the Communist insurgency is a serious problem that needs to be combated. The Communist Terrorists are active at the Malaysia-Thai border, explained Tun Razak, with some operating in certain parts of the States of Pahang and Terengganu.

Tun Razak then assured Parliament that the ISA is aimed specifically at combating these Communist Terrorists.

The defence counsel argued that since the ISA was enacted with a specific purpose in mind – to combat the Communist Terrorists – then the detention of the five under the ISA is unlawful.

The defence counsel read through the Parliament Hansard records to support his argument. The defence counsel argued that he does not accept the prosecution’s contention that the ISA is not meant to only combat the Communist Terrorists but can be used against anyone they consider a threat to national security as the Parliament records prove otherwise.