It was a statutory declaration
Published: Apr 3, 2001 1:09 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
The news report "More sex tapes found" by Ajinder Kaur and 'Ein Azmi [Malaysiakini, Nov 25] carries a factual error. It was stated that I filed an affidavit while Meor Abdul Razak made a statutory declaration recanting "confession" of sodomy with Anwar Ibrahim.
While handcuffed round-the-clock to my hospital bed under the wide-open eyes of my prison guards (with occasional surveillance by the Special Branch as told to me by the guards), it took me more than six weeks to dictate to the counsels of my choice, Manjeet Singh Dhillon and Balwant Singh Siddhu, the contents of my statutory declaration.
The 55-page document was filed on Nov 7, 1998, while I was serving the so-called "sentence" under cardiac and psychiatric distress caused by my Internal Security Act (ISA) detention and subsequent police brutality.
Notwithstanding any legal or semantic differences between an affidavit and a statutory declaration, I am at a loss to observe that my statutory declaration is made less potent just by treating it like an ordinary document.
As far as I can tell, of the thousands of ISA detainees in Malaysia, I am the first one to come up with a detailed statement that duly incriminated those who abducted me from my home, kept me in detention, violated all my rights, tortured me, threatened me, brainwashed me and extracted a totally false "confession" from me. Any independent observer would conclude that my statutory declaration opened a pioneering chapter in the Malaysian struggle for justice.
Neither Sumka Dermawan nor Meor was detained under the ISA. Both of them were charged under ordinary Acts. Both submitted their affidavits only after their release, apparently following the pattern set out in my statutory declaration. I hope, in the interest of fair play, these important distinctions would not be ignored.
There is no intent either to belittle anyone or to grab a coveted "first" but let me put the record straight that all previous ISA detainees have given statements were only courteous to their captors. Mine was a drastic departure from that obliging yet fraudulent tradition. As such it deserves a special place in the ongoing battle against authoritarian rule in Malaysia.
As to those libelous tapes, any reference to the circumstances surrounding my capture and subsequent atrocities committed by police with the intent of smearing my name and that of my friend Anwar Ibrahim stands in dire contravention of the relevant criminal and civil laws of Malaysia. My counsels will take appropriate action, if and when necessary.
Dr Munawar A. Anees
Former Prisoner of Conscience (Amnesty International) and former Writer in Prison (Pen International)
While handcuffed round-the-clock to my hospital bed under the wide-open eyes of my prison guards (with occasional surveillance by the Special Branch as told to me by the guards), it took me more than six weeks to dictate to the counsels of my choice, Manjeet Singh Dhillon and Balwant Singh Siddhu, the contents of my statutory declaration.
The 55-page document was filed on Nov 7, 1998, while I was serving the so-called "sentence" under cardiac and psychiatric distress caused by my Internal Security Act (ISA) detention and subsequent police brutality.
Notwithstanding any legal or semantic differences between an affidavit and a statutory declaration, I am at a loss to observe that my statutory declaration is made less potent just by treating it like an ordinary document.
As far as I can tell, of the thousands of ISA detainees in Malaysia, I am the first one to come up with a detailed statement that duly incriminated those who abducted me from my home, kept me in detention, violated all my rights, tortured me, threatened me, brainwashed me and extracted a totally false "confession" from me. Any independent observer would conclude that my statutory declaration opened a pioneering chapter in the Malaysian struggle for justice.
Neither Sumka Dermawan nor Meor was detained under the ISA. Both of them were charged under ordinary Acts. Both submitted their affidavits only after their release, apparently following the pattern set out in my statutory declaration. I hope, in the interest of fair play, these important distinctions would not be ignored.
There is no intent either to belittle anyone or to grab a coveted "first" but let me put the record straight that all previous ISA detainees have given statements were only courteous to their captors. Mine was a drastic departure from that obliging yet fraudulent tradition. As such it deserves a special place in the ongoing battle against authoritarian rule in Malaysia.
As to those libelous tapes, any reference to the circumstances surrounding my capture and subsequent atrocities committed by police with the intent of smearing my name and that of my friend Anwar Ibrahim stands in dire contravention of the relevant criminal and civil laws of Malaysia. My counsels will take appropriate action, if and when necessary.
Dr Munawar A. Anees
Former Prisoner of Conscience (Amnesty International) and former Writer in Prison (Pen International)
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