Those close to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi say the prime-minister-in-waiting takes his home minister job very seriously. After all, he has the supreme power to sign away a person's freedom, almost at will.

When Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad tapped his deputy for this powerful post a few years ago, Abdullah told a group of NGO activists - with his right arm raised - that "this hand has never signed an ISA order".

Not anymore. Abdullah has since been furiously signing away the liberty of scores of Malaysians. Clearly, his most controversial decision was the jailing of six key reformasi leaders.

Some may dispute that the home minister was responsible for their arrests.

True, under the Internal Security Act, the police have the power to arrest anyone considered a threat to 'national security'. The suspect is kept incognito for up to 60 days.

Based o­n their around-the-clock interrogation, the police would then 'recommend' to the home minister that the suspect be jailed for up to two years. And this detention order can be renewed every two years - indefinitely.

However, in reality the police act o­n behalf of their political masters - the order for the April 2001 arrests of the reformasi activists came not from Bukit Aman, but Putrajaya.

ISA for whose protection?

It has been argued, time and again, that Malaysians need ISA to protect national security. But history shows that the ISA - which allows detention without trial - is often abused to protect the security of those in power.

Take, for example, the case of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim. He was initially arrested for charges relating to sexual misconduct and abuse of power.

It wasn't until hours after his arrest - when he was savagely beaten by police chief Abdul Rahim Noor - that he was put under ISA.

Here, the ISA was invoked to conceal a crime, and to save the police chief and his cohorts from punishment.

This included the current attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, who was not present when the crime was committed, but was in the Bukit Aman police headquarters soon after to sort out the mess.

In the case of the reformasi activists, the ISA is again used, yes, to protect the ruling politicians - it ensures that these key opposition organisers are of no political threat to the government in the run-up to next general election.

Day 782

There are enough signs to show that Abdullah will not free the reformasi detainees.

Indeed, he should have released them last September when the country's highest court found their arrests were made in bad faith.

The Federal Court four-member panel unanimously agreed that the police had failed to back their claims - that the reformasi detainees sought to obtain explosives including rocket launchers, and enlist Malay self-defence (silat) instructors and ex-soldiers to overthrow the government.

It's been two years since the arrests and still, the police have nothing to show to bolster their allegations. Zilch.

But most telling is Abdullah's rejection of the ISA advisory board's recommendation - not o­nce, but twice - that the detainees be set free.

Abdullah is said to visit the surau (prayer room) to seek God's guidance before he inks an ISA detention order. He will no doubt be doing the same when the two-year detention order of the reformasi detainees are up for renewal.

Will malaysiakini columnist cum film-maker Hishamuddin Rais and his fellow detainees walk free this Sunday - their 782th day of detention?

That depends o­n who Abdullah listens to - God or his boss.