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Release of ISA detainees proof govt is fair

May 8, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR, 8 May 2009: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today the release 13 Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees is a proof that the Barisan Nasional (BN) has acted based on the principles of fairness and justice, and respect for the country’s rule of law.

He said police felt that it was time to consider releasing the 13 people who had been serving detention for nearly two years.

“I have been told of this. I think the move shows that the claim by opposition parties that we are practising repressive policies and trying to suppress personal freedom is baseless.

“If the detainees no longer pose a threat to security, we won’t be detaining them even a day longer. If the time has come for them to be released, then we will release them.

“When I took over the post of prime minister, I announced the release of 13 ISA detainees. I want to show that the government is acting based on the principles of justice and fairness, and respect for the law and civil liberties,” he said.

Najib was speaking to reporters after launching an exhibition showcasing the 10-year achievement of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia here today.

Also present were former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.

Asked on claims by opposition parties that the three Hindraf leaders were released to regain the support of the Indian Malaysian community, Najib said the opposition parties would always try to find fault with the government.

“If we release them they say it is not right, when we detain them, they say we are repressive… please decide what you want,” he said.

Najib also congratulated the Malaysian police for a job well done in arresting fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari, who escaped from a Singapore prison in February last year.

Meanwhile, commenting on the release of the ISA detainees, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he hoped that there would be no more accusations that the government was being irresponsible.

“Now that they (ISA detainees) are no longer a threat, we hope that they will go back to the society and tell the actual story,” he told reporters after launching the Malaysian International Cocoa Fair 2009 at the Berjaya Times Square here.

He said that the move to release the detainees showed that the government respected the law. — Bernama

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Filed Under: News Tagged With: detainees, ISA, Mat Selamat, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, release

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. beeyong says

    May 8, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    “If we release them they say it is not right, when we detain them, they say we are repressive … please decide what you want,” he said.

    We want ISA to be abolished. Period.

  2. Lainie says

    May 8, 2009 at 9:55 pm

    Wow. Our prime minister’s powers of observation … suck.

  3. KohJL says

    May 9, 2009 at 3:08 am

    Another day in life as a fish in a catch-and-release stream.

  4. Gopal Raj Kumar says

    May 9, 2009 at 2:06 pm

    Now perhaps Najib will finally crown his reign at the PM’s office with the seemingly simple yet apparently impossible task of prompt arrest, charging and trial of the policemen, their superior officers and any other person found complicit in the unsolved murders of detainees in police custody like Kugan.

    Once he has accomplished this achievement, he will be taken seriously as far as law and order issues are concerned and perhaps extricate Malaysia and its tarnished image as a South American / Arab-style despotic regime where extra juridical killings and night visits from death squads are the backbone of ‘government’.

    “To test a man’s real character, you give him power.” Abraham Lincoln.

  5. Eric says

    May 9, 2009 at 10:15 pm

    One more BN joke: “Najib said today the release of 13 ISA detainees is a proof that the BN has acted based on the principles of fairness and justice, and respect for the country’s rule of law.”

    I thought it was the government which released the detainees. It now appears BN is detaining ISA prisoners 😉

    Jokes on idiotic sentences apart, either these detainees are indeed terrorists, then they ought to be charged, otherwise they are getting away with terrorism with a few months’ detention. Or ISA is not needed as it is fully useless.

  6. lizzie says

    May 9, 2009 at 11:59 pm

    Like my mother says, we were not born yesterday, you know.

  7. Jonson Chong says

    May 10, 2009 at 10:48 am

    Barely days after Najib’s naked show of contempt for democracy and the people of Perak in the State Legislative Assembly on Thursday, he is now further insulting the intelligence of Malaysians by releasing ISA detainees and those arrested in recent days, thinking that he will be seen as the good guy.

  8. hahahahaha says

    May 10, 2009 at 1:45 pm

    I whack my wife. I don’t whack her anymore because I don’t think there is a reason to do it anymore. But I reserve the right to whack her again. That makes me fair, ya?

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