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Sejahratul held under ISA to exert pressure on husband: lawyer

The police wanted to exert pressure on alleged Al-Qaeda operative Yazid Sufaat by arresting his wife Sejahratul Dursina @ Chomel under the Internal Security Act, the Shah Alam High Court heard today.

"The arrest of Sejahratul under the ISA was with the view to put pressure on Yazid," said her legal counsel Malik Imtiaz.

The lawyer claimed his client was also arrested because she wanted to file a complaint with the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) over the ISA detention of suspected members of the Malaysian Mujahidin Group (KMM).

"She was mobilising support among the wives of the detainees to complain to Suhakam and I believe the police were trying to avoid this," Malik told judge Zaleha Zahari.

Today is the second day of Sejahratul's habeas corpus application hearing. Habeas corpus is a writ to determine whether a person's detention is lawful.

The application named Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai, Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the government as respondents.

The 37-year-old IT company director was among 14 people arrested under the ISA over a two-day operation in April over their alleged links to the KMM — which police claim wanted to topple the government through militant means.

Her husband, a former army captain, was detained last year for his alleged involvement in Jemaah Ismaiah — said to be a secret cell of KMM which is linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network.

Bad faith

Meanwhile, Malik also told the court that the police showed bad faith by not providing enough reasons to justify Sejahratul's detention.

"The belief of the detaining officer must encompass a belief that the detained person acted with intent, or will act intentionally to commit the acts preventive detention are aiming to prevent.

"The detaining authority must therefore show that the detained person has the intention of acting prejudicially to the security of Malaysia," Malik.

He added that the authorities should stop relying on the "magic formula of national security" to justify detention of individuals.

Malik also said that there had been contradictions in the police chief's affidavit of reply.

"Firstly he indicates in his affidavit that they are not sure what she has done and then he said that there are detailed investigations on her they cannot reveal.

"They are merely detaining her to find reasons to hold her," said Malik.

Sejahratul was also represented by R Sivarasa, Edmund Bon, Ranjit Singh, Saiful Izham and KY Ho.

The government is represented by Nordin Hassan, Kamaludin Mohd Said and Norbahri Baharuddin.

The hearing continues on Monday.

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