Aliran

[Ed. Note: The statement below was issued on May 30, 2001, by the executive committee of Aliran, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Malaysia. The article appeared in the Aliran Monthly.]

May 30, 2001, will be remembered in Malaysian history as a day when the people's long-suppressed hopes for justice were rekindled by a learned, honest and courageous judge whose refusal to accept the Internal Security Act (ISA) struck at the very heart of repressive law and oppressive rule in Malaysia.

On May 30, 2001, Justice Mohd. Hishamudin Mohd. Yunus in the Shah Alam High Court ruled that the detention of two Parti Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party) leaders, N. Gobalakrishnan and Abdul Ghani Haroon, under the ISA was unlawful, and he ordered the police to release them immediately.

In making his ruling, Justice Mohd. Hishamudin added that the detentions had been carried out in bad faith, violated the detainees' constitutional rights and ignored their procedural rights.

Justice Mohd. Hishamudin also ordered the police not to rearrest Gobalakrishnan and Abdul Ghani for at least 24 hours. This was an unprecedented order in light of the practice of the police in the past to immediately rearrest the rare ISA victim who was freed by the courts. Justice Mohd. Hishamudin even told Parliament that "it is high time" to reconsider the relevance of the ISA so as to prevent and minimise the abuse of the law by the authorities.

The Malaysian people will see in Justice Mohd. Hishamudin's ruling the beginning of the end to an unfortunate tradition of judicial reluctance to challenge the use of draconian legislation and brutal force by a regime that has increasingly set aside the rule of law. Together with all Malaysians who are concerned with justice, freedom and the rule of law in this country, Aliran salutes both the judge and the judgement for this historic defence of the Constitution, civil liberties and human rights.

Aliran calls upon all Malaysians concerned with justice, freedom and the rule of law to take inspiration from Justice Mohd. Hishamudin's ruling to continue the struggle to protect civil liberties and human rights and particularly to erase the dark shadow of the ISA upon Malaysian society.