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FAC News - Tuesday, November 6, 2001 1:23 PM Malaysiakini
- Monday November 5 'I'm
released but not free': ex-ISA detainee 2:02pm,
Mon: Though released recently from a two-year detention
under the Internal Security Act, Keadilan leader Dr Badrul
Amin Bahron today said he was not a “free man” at all as there
were more restrictions imposed on him than before. “The authorities
only suspended my detention order for now and so I was let out of
the detention camp. But the order is still there,” said Badrul when contacted. “I was not
freed and I am still very much a political detainee. I will continue
to fight for my release,” he said. Badrul
was referring to the conditions which came with his release last
week stipulating, among others, a ban on him from holding any party
posts, and participation in public gatherings and any form of political
activities. He said restrictions
on him now were more than what he was subjected to in the detention
camp. “At least I
could still hold my post as Keadilan supreme council member and
take part in party affairs then,” he said. He added that
before he was released, he was warned by Special Branch officers
that should he get involved in political activities, he may be sent
back to the detention camp immediately. Yesterday,
Badrul, who was nominated as one of the
20 members of the Keadilan supreme council, told malaysiakini
that he may not seek re-election at the upcoming party election
on Saturday because of the conditions of his release. The 40-year-old
preacher and motivational expert was released last Saturday on orders
by Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
after spending seven months in detention under the controversial
ISA which allows indefinite detention without trial. However, Badrul
has been placed under “restricted residence” and confined to the
Gombak district, Selangor, where his house is located. He is required to report
himself at the nearest police station every week. ‘Militant’
means Badrul
was arrested with nine other reformasi activists in April for allegedly trying to topple
the government via ‘militant’ means and street demonstrations. Keadilan was
set up in 1999 and is led by Dr Wan Azizah
Wan Ismail, wife of former deputy prime
minister Anwar Ibrahim who was sacked and
subsequently jailed on conviction of corruption and sodomy charges.
Of the 10 arrested
reformists, four were subsequently released unconditionally but
the rest were sent away in June for a further detention of two years.
Aside from
Badrul, the others were Keadilan leaders
Tian Chua, Saari
Sungib, Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor, Lokman Noor Adam, and social activist-cum-malaysiakini
columnist Hishamuddin Rais. A man known
for his fiery political speeches, the Tawau-born
Badrul is no stranger to opposition supporters.
He is currently a division chief of Keadilan Selangor
and a Youth leader in Reason
revealed Meanwhile,
Keadilan deputy president Dr Chandra Muzaffar
said the restrictions to which Badrul
is subjected have revealed the reason for his arrest under the ISA
in April. “The motive
was political and nothing else. His arrest had nothing to do with
national security,” he said in a statement. Calling the
restrictions a “travesty of justice”, Chandra said the conditions
which accompanied Badrul’s release were
against a citizen’s rights and freedom of movement which were enshrined
in the Federal Constitution.
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