MALAYSIA: FIVE MORE ISA DETAINEES RELEASED TUESDAY

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 15 (Bernama) -- Five more Internal Security Act (ISA)
detainees, who are all members of the Jemaah Islamiah Malaysia, were released
on Sept 15 afternoon, Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Tuesday.

The detainees released were Abdullah Daud, Mat Sah Mohd Satray, Ahmad Kamil
Md Hanapiah, Mohd Nasir Ismail@Hassan, and Muhammad Amir Md Hanapiah.

Hishammuddin said with the release of the five detainees Tuesday, there were
now nine people still under detention comprising four Malaysian nationals while
the rest were foreigners from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, Singapore and
Indonesia.

"Their release Tuesday was to give them an opportunity to celebrate
Aidilfitri with their respective families and has nothing to do with the
by-election for the Bagan Pinang state seat," he told reporters.

Furthermore, Hishammuddin said the five were released because they had shown
positive response to rehabilitation during their detention and were no longer
considered a threat to national security.

Earlier, Hishammuddin had a meeting with representatives of the Malaysian
Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and the Syarie and Muslim Lawyers Association
on the amendments to the ISA.

On the meeting, Hishammuddin said he was satisfied as the feedback received
from the parties concerned was not based on emotion but was instead concrete and
rational and appreciated the threats faced by the government.

"But they want to see efforts taken at improving the mechanism so that the
Act is not abused or seen to be having the potentials of being abused," he said.

Among others, the discussion touched on the transparency of the ISA, the
duration of detention and treatment accorded to the detainees.

-- BERNAMA