Apcet II raiders repent and relieved by court decision

Saifudin feels a sense of huge relief. — File pic

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid- The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — Two PKR leaders, who were part of an unruly Umno Youth mob that stormed the Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor II (Apcet II) in 1996, say they feel relief after a court awarded damages yesterday to 29 participants of the conference who were arrested by the police.

Saifudin Nasution and Datuk Johari Abdul are now PKR supreme council members. In 1996, they were part of a group of Umno Youth leaders who disrupted Apcet II. The police subsequently arrested the participants of the conference instead.

Today, they both claimed to The Malaysian Insider that they had stormed Apcet II on the instructions of the then-Deputy Home Minister Datuk Megat Junid Megat Ayub and then-Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, who is now Defence Minister.

They also denied Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was then the deputy prime minister, had any role in the storming of the conference.

Saifuddin, who was then Umno Youth secretary, said yesterday's High Court decision had exonerated him from his guilt over his role in the raid.

"Personally, I feel a sense of huge relief. After 10 years of court proceedings, it is finally over. Now, I would take the approach of looking forward and not look back," he said.

Saifuddin, who is Machang MP and elections director for his party, was the ace for the plaintiffs in the Apcet II trial.

He had testified in court that the raid was instructed by the late Megat Junid, whom Saifuddin alleged had also instructed the police to back the raiders.

The High Court, however, dismissed the involvement of Megat Junid in the incident.

Another former Umno Youth leader who also took part in the storming was Johari, who, like Saifuddin, has turned against their former party and joined the opposition.

Johari was in the Umno Youth mob which stormed Apcet II. — File pic

Johari, now the MP for Sungai Petani, told The Malaysian Insider that he too felt relieved by the High Court decision.

But Johari said it was important for him to stress that those behind the raid must be held accountable for their actions.

"It was Megat and then Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who instructed us to storm the conference.

"But I remember that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was the deputy prime minister at the time, called us and told us to 'stop this nonsense at once'. It is important to put this on record," said the PKR leader.

Speaking on the incident itself, Johari said even though he was among the mob, just like the Apcet II plaintiffs, he too felt that the police had acted beyond their powers when they made the arrests.

Both Saifuddin and Johari have now become close friends and comrades of some of those arrested at the conference, including current PKR vice-president R. Sivarasa and strategic director Tian Chua.

"This court decision will act as a closure to this episode for me," said Saifuddin.