Representatives of various student groups today handed over a memorandum calling for the abolishment of the Internal Security Act (ISA) to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Norian Mai at the Bukit Aman Federal police headquarters.

The students met with Norian for about an hour and discussed issues pertaining to the ISA and the ten political leaders and human rights activists detained under the Act recently.

Malaysiakini was told by one of the representatives that Norian had requested them to remove their anti-ISA badges if they wanted to proceed with the meeting. Three disagreed and opted to leave.

When contacted, the administrative-secretary of the Malaysian Youth and Democratic Student Movement (Dema), Lee Khai Loon said the meeting was a "waste of time" as nothing concrete had transpired from it.

According to Lee, the police chief told the students that the ISA detainees "would not be tortured physically and would be safe".

Family visits

"Norian also told us that no dates for visitation have been set for the families of five other detainees but they will be allowed to visit."

Since last Thursday, five of the detainees' families have been permitted to meet them at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters.

They include the families of Free Anwar campaign (freeanwar.com) webmaster Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin and Keadilan leaders Mohamad Ezam Mohd Noor, Dr Badrul Amin Baharom, Saari Sungib and Lokman Noor Adam.

Those who are yet to be visited by their families are Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua, party Youth leaders N Gobalakrishnan and Abdul Ghani Haroon, social activist-cum-malaysiakini columnist Hishamuddin Rais and human rights activist Badaruddin Ismail.

The ten were detained in a police crackdown launched on April 10. Police had said after the first seven arrests that the detainees were planing to topple the government via militant means.

Meanwhile, Norian explained that the ISA is a preventive law and not a criminal one, said Lee adding that the IGP had said only an Act of Parliament can do away with the law and the "police was merely implementing laws in the country".

Loyalty and security

Norian also said the police would stay loyal to the government of the day and the arrests were carried out to ensure peace and to safeguard national security, said Lee.

The students' memorandum stated that the ISA was against the standards of human rights provided in the constitution, the use of it was inhumane towards the detainees and their families, and disrupted peace and well-being of society.

It also called on the government to abolish the ISA, release the detainees without conditions or charge them in court if there is evidence and also sought a guarantee from the police that they would act transparently and professionally when dealing with security problems in the country.

"This should be done without involving any political interests to ensure the continuity of peace which we have enjoyed thus far and to protect the reputation of the police force in the eyes of the public," it further read.

The memorandum was endorsed by Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Semenanjung (Gamis), Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar Islam Se Malaysia, Badan Bertindak Mahasiswa Negara, Kelab Rakan Siswa Islah Malaysia, Dema, Gerakan Mahasiswa Lantang Negara, Universiti Bangsar Utama, Gabungan Mahasiswa Wangsa Maju, Front Anak Muda Untuk Demokrasi, Jemaah Islam Penyelamat Ummah, Sekretariat Pelajar Persatuan Ulama Malaysia and Jawatankuasa Mahasiswa Mahasiswi Islam India.

The groups will launch an anti-ISA movement at Universiti Malaya at 9pm tonight and expect about 200 students from all over the state to attend.