The trial of the seven university students charged with illegal assembly continued today, with the prosecution's second witness branding them as "hardcore" and "stubborn".

Dang Wangi district deputy police chief Mohd Khasni Mohd Noor told the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court that the seven were arrested when they refused to disperse after being ordered to do so repeatedly.

The students had allegedly participated in an anti-Internal Security Act (ISA) demonstration outside the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur on June 8, 2001. Following the arrest, they were suspended by their respective universities.

The students dubbed the 'ISA 7' were charged under Section 27 of the Police Act on July 19, 2001 and the hearing was adjourned eight times before resuming on Monday.

Reasons for arrest

Mohd Khasni, who started his testimony yesterday, said he was informed about the gathering by special branch officers a week before it was held.

Following a briefing, he said he led a team of 70 police personnel to stop the gathering in an operation codename 'Ops Padam'.

He also told the court that the seven were arrested because they refused to disperse after being ordered to do so.

At this juncture, defence counsel Latheefa Koya asked whether it was an offence to recite prayers (baca doa) in places other than a mosque.

"I am not an expert on religion," replied Mohd Khsasni, adding that he was unsure whether prayers could be recited elsewhere.

He also agreed that he was not an expert in issuing permits for public gatherings.

During re-examination, when asked why the hawkers outside the mosque were not detained for illegal assembly, he said they were merely doing business while the students had "disrupted the peace and comprised more than three people".

(Under Section 27 of the Police Act, an assembly comprising more than three people at a public place without police permission is classified as an illegal assembly)

"I took many factors into consideration - such as ( the crowd) must be more than three people, public peace was disrupted and that the group was given ample chances to disperse - before I gave the instruction (to arrest)," said Mohd Khasni.

On the question as to whether it constituted an offence to recite prayers in places other than a mosque, he replied, "Prayer reciting is not wrong (when it is performed) in the mosque.

He added that none of the female participants were arrested as they had already dispersed and were headed towards the railway station.

"Those arrested were stubborn (keras kepala). When the arrests started, most of them dispersed while the seven were hardcore (sic)," he stressed.

'Routine briefing'

On the briefing before the operation, he said it was a routine one and was not held specifically for the operation.

Mohd Khasni's testimony ended today. The trial will resume tomorrow and seven more police officers involved in the arrest are expected to testify over the next few days.

If convicted, the students could face a maximum punishment of one year imprisonment, an RM10,000 fine or both.

Many quarters have lent their support to the seven students including Amnesty International, Asian Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights Society.

Human rights and student groups in Indonesia organised a peaceful demonstration in support of the ISA 7 in front of the Malaysian embassy and Asean secretariat buildings in Jakarta yesterday.