The wives of the DAP reps and others detained under SOSMA have started a hunger strike and at Bukit Aman. A viral video of them sitting under the rain at Bukit Aman is a scene that will certainly tug at your heartstrings and it did mine.
It made me think of the time of what more than 100 families went through with the Operation Lalang dragnet. 32 years later, regressive laws are still seen to be used as a tool in the name of national security when there are obvious loopholes in the case of SOSMA.
At this juncture, with a ‘habeas corpus’filed in court by Ramkarpal Singh and RSN Rayer who are both representing the 5 families, my appeal to the Government is to charge them in an open court or to please release them before Deepavali.
A person detained under SOSMA can be detained without being brought to court for 28 days and this is a gross abuse of human rights, and draconian to the core.
“Detain and investigate later” is certainly a heavy handed, oppressive method that had been used when the Internal Security Act was in effect before its abolition in 2012. This sort of modus operandi must never be brought to life and let alone exist in a Malaysia Baharu, under Pakatan Harapan.
There are other criminal laws and acts that these men can be tried under. But to use SOSMA on them is simply unacceptable and an infringement to their fundamental rights and liberties.
It will not be a Deepavali celebration this year to DAP and Pakatan Harapan knowing that our comrades are still held behind bars under the draconian SOSMA when they should be charged in an open court.
We from Wanita DAP stand in solidarity with the wives, mothers, children and families of the detained under this draconian SOSMA.
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” – Martin Luther King.