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October 19, 2006

Malaysia: Suspected Islamists Released From Detention

News from the China Post, the BBC, Reuters, the Malaysia Star, and Associated Press via NDTV and the International Herald Tribune reports that 11 suspected Islamists have been released after spending five years' detention without trial.

The eleven were held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), a piece of legislation which existed when the British governed Malaya, before Malaysia came into existence in 1949. They had been placed in detention because of suspected involvement with a militant Islamic group called Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM). This group, also called the Malaysian Mujahideen Group, was formed in 1998 as a satellite of Jemaah Islamiyah, the terrorist group which is based in Indonesia and wishes to establish a pan-southeast Asian Islamist state.

Originally, hundreds of suspected members of KMM had been arrested in 2001. Two years ago the eleven who were released were among 16 people who, according to Human Rights Watch in 2004, were demanding to be released or they would continue a hunger strike. 27 other detainees who were from Jemaah Islamiyah were supporting the 16 in their hunger strike as an act of "solidarity".

All 16 had links with the opposition party, Parti Islam Se Malaysia (Islamic Party of Malaysia, or PAS), which was founded in 1955 and aims to establish exclusively sharia rule in Malaysia. The party has lost many seats in the last elections, but it still remains powerful in Kelantan state, which adjoins Thailand.

One of those detained was the son of PAS' spiritual leader. Nik Adli is the son of Nik Aziz Nik Mat, chief minister of the state government of Kelantan. Nik Adli was arrested on August 4, 2001 under Section 73(1) of the ISA, along with five other individuals. He and the ten other individuals who were released by the prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who also acts as Malaysia's security minister, had been set free as a "Ramadan gesture".

38-year old Nik Adli had been held in Kamunting prison camp in the northern state of Perak. He had been a teacher in a Muslim school, the Sekolah Menengah Agama Darul Anwar, at Pulau Melaku, Kota Baharu. At the present time, there are still more than 100 individuals detained here, with 60 of these being suspected Islamic militants.

Those who had been released in recent years generally had officially "repented" and undergone rehabilitation programs. According to Bernama news agency yesterday, prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi admitted that he had signed the release forms for Nik Adli, but was still evasive about details. When asked the date of the release, he said: "Be patient. Go to Kota Baharu and wait to take pictures when he meets his father later."

When asked whether the release would happen before Eid ul-Fitr, Badawi said Adli would be released "as soon as the letter reaches him." When asked when that may be, Badawi said that it "depends on the postman." When asked if the other five people detained at the same time as Adli would be released, he responded: "Be patient."

In actuality, all eleven individuals were released yesterday. The treasurer of the PAS party, Hatta Ramli, said: "His release showed the government has no proof to implicate him in anything. The ISA has been used by the authorities as a tool to intimidate the people. It was a scare tactic, a threat. The ISA was used to tarnish the image of PAS and its leaders. It was an attempt to brand PAS as a terror group."

Ahmad Awang, information chief of PAS, said: "We demand that all ISA detainees be freed immediately without conditions or be charged before a court of law. PAS also demands that the ISA be abolished immediately."

Adli was reluctant to talk about his experiences in jail. He said: "Allow me some privacy to spend time with my family." He is subject to pre-release conditions which prevent him discussing aspects of his detention.

This morning he went to the school where he had taught, which had been founded by his family. He was pursued by reporters, prompting him to ask to be left alone.

Before the release, his father had said, with some irony: "They only send him home after taking good care of him. As long as my heart is bleeding, I will not say thank you."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 19, 2006 6:30 PM

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