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Press Statement
by Liew Chin Tong
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(Petaling Jaya, Monday) : DAP will be organizing a public forum this coming Wednesday in remembrance of one of the darkest days in Malaysia’s history.

On 27 October 1987, the Government launched Ops Lalang and arrested 106 innocent social, political and religious activists. Twenty years on, it’s time to step up our collective effort to strive for a democratic future without the dark shadow of the Internal Security Act 1960 looming over us.

With the theme “No More Fear, Abolish ISA”, the forum brings together DAP leaders detained during Ops Lalang and more recent victims of this repressive law, to highlight the continued suffering of those detained under the ISA.

Election watchdog MAFREL Chairman Malek Hussin, who was recently awarded RM 2.5 million by the High Court for his unlawful detention in 1998, is the special guest of the forum.

Norlaila Othman, wife of current ISA detainee Mat Sah Mohd Satray, will be present to bring home the message that ISA detention is not something of the past but an oppressive tool of the government that continues to haunt Malaysians.

Other speakers include the Chairman of Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI) Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh, DAP Deputy National Chairman Tan Seng Giaw and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng.

The draconian law, passed by Parliament in 1960 ostensibly for the curtailment of Communism, has been used thousands of times to crush political opponents of the Barisan Nasional.

The ISA has no place in a country that claims to have any semblance of democracy. It has been almost half a century since the Act was passed and it’s high time we do away with it.

Public Forum:

“Remembering Ops Lalang: No More Fear, Abolish ISA!”

Date: 31 October 2007 (Wednesday)
Time: 7:30 pm – 10:45 pm
Venue: KL-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall

 

(29/10/2007)