FAC News - Thursday, June 20, 2002 9:53 AM

SUHAKAM INQUIRY ON THE ISA: Raja Petra testifies at the inquiry

After all the “nominated” Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees from the Kamunting Detention Center had testified, and just before the inquiry closed, Suhakam decided to call the Director of the Free Anwar Campaign, Raja Petra Kamarudin, to testify.

Raja Petra was detained together with the “Kamunting 6” and three others over various dates in April last year but was released on 2 June 2001 after only 52 days of detention.

Raja Petra, who was taken aback, at first declined to testify but was finally persuaded to do so. Suhakam felt that, since the “Kamunting 6” would not be testifying as originally planned, Raja Petra could shed some light into what the Reformasi group went through during their detention.

Raja Petra then related his experiences of the first 60-days detention under the ISA.

The sixty days is divided into two stages, explained Raja Petra. The first 30 days is basically to extract a confession from the detainees while the next 30 days is the “turning over” process.

Raja Petra stressed that, though the law allows for this initial 60 days detention, there was no justification to detain them for the full sixty days as the interrogation process was completed within 30 days. The balance 30 days was used merely to try to convince the detainees of the “error of their ways” and make them “repent”.

“We were not physically forced to admit to any ‘crimes’,” explained Raja Petra. “If we want, we can remain silent and not open our mouths the entire 60 days. But, we were warned, if we chose to do that, we would for sure be detained in Kamunting.”

“We were told that there have been cases where ‘stubborn’ detainees have been detained for more than ten years because they refused to ‘cooperate’ by talking. If we do not talk, we too could be detained for a long time, so it is to our interest to talk so that we can be released early and probably not be sent to Kamunting.”

“But, when we do talk, that is then used as ‘evidence’ to detain us further in Kamunting.”

“On the very first day of our detention, in fact, the minute we were detained, we were told we would be detained for 60 days,” said Raja Petra. “Therefore, it was already predetermined they would detain us for 60 days whether they needed the 60 days to conduct their investigation or not.”

“By the end of the 30 days, our statements had already been taken and a record of this statement given to us to sign. After that, there was no longer any necessity to detain us.”

“However, they continued to detain us and they used this detention period to talk to us and offer us all sorts of evidence to prove Anwar Ibrahim’s guilt in the hope they could convince us that Anwar is indeed guilty of sodomy and that we are mistaken in supporting him and in thinking that he is innocent and a victim of trumped-up charges.”

“The ISA is being abused and used primarily to silence opposition and to stifle dissent,” said Raja Petra.

“We have filed Writs of Habeas Corpus supported by Affidavits which prove that there was Mala Fide in our arrests and detention. The police, in fact, admitted that our interrogation had nothing to do with the official reasons of our detention in their Affidavits in Reply.”

(Link to the ten Affidavits)

“Our Affidavits have spelt out in detail the scope and gist of the interrogation. The interrogation was basically about the party. It was to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the party.”

“The police, however, refuse to explain further the gist of our interrogation by saying that it is a national secret and crucial to the internal security of the country. The police are hiding behind national security and using it as a lame excuse.”

Raja Petra added, “According to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in his press conference on 11 April 2001, we were arrested because they had proof we were involved in a conspiracy to bring in guns, bombs, grenade launchers and Molotov Cocktails.”

“However, that same day, when asked why we were not charged in court instead of arresting us under the ISA, the Prime Minister told the press that it was because they did not have enough evidence against us and a smart lawyer would have been able to get us acquitted.”