A group of Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees alleged to be members of regional militant movement Jemaah Islamiah (JI) has spoken out for the first time to deny the accusations held against them.

In a statement issue via their lawyers Messrs Chooi and Co, the 31 detainees currently held at the Kamunting detention camp refuted the government's claims that they had been any ties with the JI whose purported aim was to overthrow regional governments for a pan-regional Islamic state.

"We categorically deny the accusations and state that the police and the authorities have concocted the false and trumped-up (charges)," they said in the joint statement.

The detainees said that they had largely kept quiet since their arrest, some as early as late 2001, because the authorities had discouraged them from speaking out, in exchange for possible release.

"We are now convinced that the authorities have no intentions of releasing us and any hope or promise, misplaced and false. After much thought and courage, we have decided to make this statement to clarify and set the record straight for the first time."

Differing claims

Among their claims, the detainees said they had not been involved in any organisation to overthrow the government by unlawful means nor did they have any ties with any organisation planning to establish a region-wide Islamic state.

In addition, the group said they had no links to the secretive JI, an organisation whose existence, they added, had not yet been proven.

According to them, the clearest indication of the "conjecture and guesswork" relied upon by the police when arresting them was the differing statements made by the authorities to justify their arrests.

"On different occasions when announcing our arrests, the Inspector General of Police (Norian Mai) stated that we were part of a militant group called the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia or KMM. Now, we do not hear of this but only of the organisation purportedly known as JI," they said.

The detainees said that while the authorities continue to put forward the "unsubstantiated accusations" against them, no corresponding effort had been made to secure evidence to support the charges.

"We say that this is because there is no such evidence. The accusations are trumped-up for the sole purpose of justifying our continued detention and to appease the public by portraying the perception that the government is in control of us, the so-called and imagined 'dangerous persons'," they asserted.

Call for trial

The group also called for their unconditional release as was done in the case of former detainee Mohamad Iqbal Abdul Rahman last month.

"He was released without any conditions. If an alleged leader of JI may be released, what more the rest of us who have been accused of merely being members or followers of JI."

Mohd Iqbal, an Indonesian national was released on Aug 18 after two years in detention at Kamunting. However, he now faces deportation to Indonesia after the government revoked his Malaysian permanent residency.

Alternatively, the detainees said they should be brought before a court of law as was done in the case of Indonesian cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged head of JI, in Jakarta.

"Albeit there were complaints that the trial was unfair, at least he had the opportunity to defend himself," they added.

When contacted, one of the lawyers representing the group, Edmund Bon, said he would be filing habeas corpus applications on behalf of eight of the detainees next week at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

The JI was first named as a regional terrorist organisation with links to al Qaeda following the Sept 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

The group is linked to several bombing campaigns in Indonesia and Philippines as well as plots to attack certain targets in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. JI is also said to be responsible for the deadly Bali and Jakarta Marriot blasts.

The alleged mastermind of the campaigns, Hambali or Riduan Isamuddin was arrested in Thailand last week. However, four more Malaysians linked to the group remain fugitives.

The other alleged militant organisation, the KMM, was identified by the police following a bank robbery involving members of the group. The organisation, initially known as the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia, was later renamed the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia following the US terror attacks.

According to police statistics, some 200 persons are being held in the country for their involvement in JI. The National Economic Action Council announced last June that 99 persons alleged to be members of militant groups are being held under the ISA.