Five students detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) since November for alleged links to militant organisations have requested that they be granted an early release or at the least placed under house arrest.


Malaysian Human Rights Commissioner Hamdan Adnan said he had met the five during a supervised visit at the Bukit Aman police headquarters yesterday afternoon where they had conveyed their request.

"When I met them they looked happy and were in high spirits. They expressed hope that they would either be placed under house arrest or be released earlier," Hamdan told malaysiakini, adding the five also wanted counselling services.

According to him, his meeting with the five was arranged following a request from human rights organisation the Anti-ISA Movement (AIM) last week.

The five, Mohd Akil Abdul Raof, 22, Eddy Erman Shahime, 20, Abidzar Jaafar, 19, Mohd Ikhwan Abdullah, 20 and Mohd Radzi Abdul Razak, 20 were arrested together with eight others under the ISA last November immediately after they were released by Pakistani police.

The 13 were studying at universities in Karachi but were arrested by Pakistani authorities last September for suspected links to terror groups. Eight of the group have subsequently been released later.

No abuse

Hamdan said the five also requested him to ask the police to allow them some daily time outside the confines of their cell.

"They are suffering from depression and stress. This could be caused by the fact that they are put together in a single cell and can't tell the difference between day or night because a light is always on.

"They only can tell the time of day when watching television," he said.

He said the students have been receiving visits from their parents and have requested that food be allowed to be given to them by family members. The students were also hoping to be able to meet their friends.

Hamdan said the five had told him that they had not been abused or maltreated. "They said that they had been treated well even during interrogation," he said adding that a Special Branch officer was present during his meeting with the five.

The group also voiced the uncertainty over whether they should further pursue their habeas corpus application bids to secure their release.

Hamdan said that the students were taking classes for the STPM with teachers coming in to tutor them. "One of them even inquired about how he had done in the STPM," Hamdan said.

Formal order

The commissioner said one inconsistency regarding the detention of the five was their place of detention. According to Hamdan, the students were still being held 'in a cell somewhere in Kuala Lumpurl'.

He also pointed out that the five have been held for six months now. Under the ISA, detainees being held for more than 60 days need to be served with a formal a two-year detention order signed by the home affairs minister.

Detainees upon which formal detention orders have been served normally serve out their sentences at the Kamunting detention centre in Taiping, Perak.

Hamdan said that he would be asking the police for clarification on the status of the five under the ISA.