Eight alleged Jemaah Islamiah (JI) members today filed their habeas corpus applications at the Kuala Lumpur High Court seeking their release from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Abdul Razak Baharudin, Mat Sah Mohd Satray, Mohd Sha Sarijan, Abdullah Mohamed Noor, Nordin Ahmad, Abdul Murad Sudin, Abdullah Minyak Silam and Samsuddin Sulaiman denied they were members of a regional terror network.

"I do not know of any group called 'Jemaah Islamiah' and I am not a member of any such group. This group does not exist and it is merely a creation of the authorities," said the detainees in their individual affidavits.

The detainees said they were merely members of a religious organisation known as Pertubuhan Al-Ehsan, an organisation registered under the Societies Act 1966.

"The registration number (of Al-Ehsan) is 266. We were given permission by the Registrar of Societies to collect donations to help victims of violence in Ambon, Indonesia.

"I am actually being detained for being an active member of Pertubuhan Al Ehsan but the (Home Ministry) does not have the right to hold me on this because it is a registered Islamic society," they said.

They named as the government, Home Ministry and the police as respondents.

Conflicting statements

Last week, the eight and 23 others detained on similar charges, issued a statement proclaiming their innocence.

The detainees were arrested based on intelligence information received by the authorities following investigations into the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

To date, none have been charged for any specific crimes.

Meanwhile, the eight detainees said their detention was in bad faith as the police had not found any evidence to prove their membership in a militant organisation and neither were they able to proof the existence of JI.

"When I was arrested and detained by the police, I was suspected of being involved with a group known as the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia.

"This was stated by the first respondent (the police) at a press conference on Jan 4, 2002, at Bukit Aman," they said in their respective affidavits.

The detainees claimed that the authorities later listed down in their detention orders that they were being held for being members of JI.

"The statements are clearly conflicting, bear ill intention and are wrong in the eyes of the law. As such, the respondents cannot justify my arrest and detention with the Internal Security Act 1960," they said.

Court trial

Furthermore, the detainees said they are guaranteed the right to practice their religion by Article 11 of the Federal Constitution.

"If I break the law in carrying out this right, I should be charged in an open court so that I can defend myself.

"If I have acted in any way which threatens national security, there are many other criminal laws which can be used to charge me including sections 121 to 126 of the Penal Code," they said.

The detainees referred to the developments in the case in Indonesia against alleged JI leader Abu Bakar Bashir, which saw prosecutors' failing to prove the existence of the movement.

They argued that they too should be brought to trial so that they could proof their innocence.

"The extension of my detention time under the ISA is an indictment that the Malaysian authorities have failed to find and arrest the true militants who threaten this country's security," added the detainees.

Sons arrested

In a related development, it was learnt that the sons of two of the detainees were among the 13 students arrested from several religious schools in Pakistan over the weekend.

When contacted, lawyer representing the group Edmund Bon said Abdul Razak's son Mohd Radzi and Nordin Ahmad's son Tarmizi were being held for questioning by Pakistani authorities.

Two other students were also said to be sons of JI detainees but this has yet to be ascertained.

JI, which was said to have ties with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, was also linked to the bombings in Bali and Jakarta.