Resign Syed Hamid

It’s absolutely unacceptable.

That is how I feel, and that is how surely the former law minister Zaid Ibrahim felt – before resigning. Any individual with the requisite moral courage and conviction about human dignity and democracy would do the same.

Therefore, with due respect to our Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar -who happens to also be a lawyer by training – it is he who should resign because he does not understand the spirit of the ISA and is therefore only practicing and propagating rule by law.

As reported in an article by Santha Oorjitham in the New Straits Time s on Sept 16, the “spirit of the Internal Security Act” as stated in the preamble says, “it is for the prevention of subversion, the suppression of organised violence against persons or property.”

When the spirit is ignored, the rule yields to the political motives of rule-makers and the original intent of the law is violated and abused.

It’s unsurprising the minister in charge struggled to explain the arrests.

Marina Lee Abdullah, RPK’s wife in her blog talked about the fumbling minister on TV and how he was being supplied answers by officers in the midst of his media briefings.

Kudos to the Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek for publicly stating that “the police should clarify the reasons for the detentions of these individuals, and not politicians,”- in light of the briefing.

Syed Hamid tried hard but fumbled over his own words, logic and reasons – rejected by many BN leaders of various colours and shades. There is a mutiny in the Cabinet but our sleepy PM cannot see or feel it yet.

Section 73 of the Internal Security Act (ISA) allows any inspector and above to detain persons conditional to fulfilling Section 8 of “preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia.”

The obvious pre-consideration must be on “how is the security of Malaysia” defined and who is authorised to define this? The home minister has sole executive authority over this law.

Detaining someone for 60 days is conditional upon the longer term intention of a two year detention. Which Karpal Singh argued on behalf of Kok in the habeas corpus filing. The intent rests on the minister’s understanding of threat and “subversion or organised violence” stipulated in the law’s preamble.

The drafter

Oorjithma quotes the drafter of the act Prof R H Hickling who clarified before that it was intended “against communist insurgents and those bent on armed struggle\”.

Asked if he would word it differently today, he replied to Oorjitham, “No I don’t think so. But if people won’t pay attention to the wording, what can you do about it? Organised violence is the key to the preamble, but a lot of people who had nothing to do with organised violence at all were being arrested.”

He said it all – the difference between the spirit and letter of the law.

I can accept junior police officers without an undergraduate degree making mistakes, but not so for home ministers.

Teresa Kok, RPK and the journalist are no partners in “any armed struggle” to overthrow the government by unfair means. Maybe they are guilty of trying to seek to change the government by democratic means of the media, rational politics and courageous writing – but is that a crime?

A foreigner who acquainted with Kok commented, “How could a parliamentarian like her do anything unlawful to the people and the government?”” It is a valid question and Loretta Ann P Rosales, the senior adviser of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), stressed that the use of the ISA amounts to a country back-tracking on democratic ideals .

The home minister shows a blind eye to two other MPs, a PAS one and another PKR Zulkifli Noordin in their illegal protest of the bar council forum, yet Kok is arrested when the mosques in question over the azan issue have admitted that “she has never said that the Azan is a problem.”

In my experience the problem with the azan’s decibel level only occurs when a stand-in is managing the speaker for the day. I have had occasions when the “azan was so loud that the glass in my windows rattled because of the decibel level”.

Now, is that a fair issue to raise; whether the noise level is unbearable in the neighborhood? Of course it is legal and legitimate, as I have learned that “noise” in the Local Government Act and by-laws is defined when “more than one neighbor says it is too loud.” For that matter I am told that in the Federal Territories, there is a clear and specific definition and even the agreed or approved level of decibel as defined in bylaws.The azan can even be measured for propriety.

Unmitigated disaster

My opening line describes my take on the home minister’s actions.

His agents arrested a journalist, whose only crime was she did her job with dedication, sincerity and excellence – with her editors and management standing by her unconditionally. And true enough she was released 16 hours after being arrested – when those in power realised what we in the outside have always known, Tan is no threat to the nation’s security.

The minister has to resign over this unmitigated disaster.

It is acceptable that the PM does not know about it but not the relevant Minister. I believe the law “only empowers the minister, by person and never by proxy, to sign the detention order.” It is my contention that the spirit of the law requires the police to get his approval before detaining persons for even 24 hours.

And, he now tries to be the good guy because he only gave the order for her to be released? Someone is lying or has misinformed the minister; and it may be obvious that he does not run his own ministry. This matter needs to be raised in Parliament and if the Minister in fact did not know anything about the arrest and he did not authorise it, his salary should be cut RM10 ringgit by the Legislature. Executive authority cannot be abused.

Individuals performing the jobs professionally, cannot be “falsely accused under false premise that they are a threat to national security”.

I am in agreement with Collin Abraham in defending the role of the communists in the struggle for independence – that they were soldiers for democracy and freedom of speech. Respect and honour their citizenship and charge them under the laws of the country, not the ISA

Raja Petra Kamaruddin struggles using words – as the pen is mightier than the sword. He deserves better.

Malaysia deserves better. Let us transit from this power paradigm to an influence paradigm.