(Malaysiakini) In the spirit of Hari Raya, Human Rights Party Malaysia (HRP) pro-tem secretary general P Uthayakumar called for the release of all ISA detainees, the ISA abolished, and the Kamunting detention camp closed down.
He said this in an open letter to Home Minister Hisahammuddin Hussein yesterday,
Uthayakumar said that the rule of law is for every person to be given the right to be heard and a fair hearing.He added that under the law, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty and therefore no one should be arbitrarily detained under the ISA.
Instead, they should be given a full hearing and tried in an independent and fair court of law, if a genuine case exists.
The former ISA detainee said the pain of detention under the ISA is far worse than that of ordinary prisoners who know when they will be set free.
ISA detainees undergo indefinite detention and suffer mental torture in not knowing when they will be released, he pointed out.
However, he claimed that the 1Malaysia spirit truly exists behind the walls of the camp, as everyone was treated equally irrespective of their race or religion.
Even though Hindraf lawyers were labelled Hindu extremists by Umno, the detainees had no problem with the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) members, who are regarded as Islamic extremists, at the Kamunting camp.
On the eve of Hari Raya celebrations, Uthayakumar recalled how he had fasted along with the JI group and other Muslim detainees during the whole month of the Ramadan month in 2008.
He expressed relief at the release of the longest serving JI detainee Shamsuddin Sulaiman who was freed after eight years on Sept 2.
Likewise, the other ISA detainees should also be released, he added.
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