The Education Ministry should assist the seven university students who were charged with illegal assembly to continue their education, an opposition parliamentarian told the Dewan Rakyat today.

The students, who have since been suspended, were arrested for joining an anti-Internal Security Act (ISA) demonstration outside the national mosque in Kuala Lumpur in June 2001.

Debating on the 2004 budget committee's stage, Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) said the seven - popularly known as 'ISA 7' - were merely expressing their views and therefore should not be punished.

"Instead of punishing them and asking them to apologise, the Education Ministry should help get the charges against them dropped.

"Please, respect the rights for expression and association," she said, adding that the restrictive Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) should be abolished.

Fong also recalled a recent statement from Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who urged university students to be outspoken.

"Why should we fear these (students') voices? Let them speak. Otherwise, how can we achieve our goal to cultivate creative and analytical thinking graduates?" she asked.

After the seven were charged in court and subsequently suspended, Education Minister Musa Mohamed said he would reconsider reinstating them if they apologised, drawing criticism from various quarters.

Their hearing will resume next Monday after a three-month hiatus.

UPM raids

Meanwhile, Fong also spoke on the raids carried out at Universiti Putra Malaysia's (UPM) women hostel and its student representative council office before the campus election last month.

She questioned the veracity of the allegation that the raids were conducted because the students were planning 'underground activities'.

In view of this, Fong urged the ministry to present a clear guideline in order to prevent any selective action on 'anti-establishment' students in the future.

In his winding-up speech later, Education Ministry parliamentary secretary Mahadzir Mohd Khir described the issues raised by the opposition MP as mere 'rhetoric'.

He said matters pertaining to the UUCA were discussed many times in Parliament before and the parliamentary secretary also told Fong not to pose as a 'champion' of student issues.

To the question by Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) that money politics had invaded campus polls, Mahadzir dismissed it as "all lies".

PAS claimed that 'pro-establishment' candidates in the last campus polls received monetary support as well as free mobile phones from Umno Youth.

A report was also lodged with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) over the matter.