The inspector general of police, Ismail Omar, was quoted by Bernama on July 28 as saying that the six PSM detainees were well taken care of by the police. He was also quoted as saying that they were held in the interest of national security and according to procedures established by the law.

The IGP insults our intelligence with these ridiculous and callous remarks. Solitary confinement of these innocent individuals in cramped  cells with poor sanitary facilities, denial of meaningful family visits, long and intense hours of interrogation, sleep disturbance and constant mental and physical stress do not, by any standards, equate with being well taken care of. Instead, the IGP should be reminded that these actions constitute torture.

As the head of the police force, the IGP must take full responsibility for the indefinite detention without trial of the six PSM activists on unfounded allegations. First the police publicly accuse them of attempting to wage war against the Agong under Section 122 of the Penal Code.

Then this allegation is abandoned and they are detained under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969 (EO) for being the prime movers of the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally. The Bersih 2.0 steering committee has already refuted this.

The police clearly have no valid grounds to detain them and yet continue to abuse the EO as a tool for punitive detention under the catch all excuse of national security.

There is clear evidence of overzealousness and abuse of power in the police actions in this case. To start with, the initial police allegation of attempting to wage war against the Agong smacks of a desperate move to vilify the PSM activists and prolong the initial remand period.

It must be noted that this allegation was also made against the 24 others in the bus that was stopped in Kepala Batas and who were subsequently charged under the Societies Act and the Internal Security Act.

They have been released on bail of RM8,000 each which is indeed an excessive amount for mainly poor women and plantation and factory workers. The police have maliciously even charged school kids including the teenage son of the bus driver.

Re-arresting the six activists after an initial one week remand period was clearly done in bad faith and is a blatant abuse of the EO. The inconsistency in the allegations and the desperate attempt by the police to now obtain evidence under duress in order to seemingly concoct new charges against the detainees clearly demonstrates the unprofessionalism and malicious intent of the police.

It is time for the IGP to end this farce that is tarnishing the image of Malaysia worldwide. Free all six detainees immediately. Every additional day of detention brings further disrepute to the Malaysian government which has nothing to gain but everything to lose from this debacle.