The Shah Alam High Court was today told that the government does not need to give specific reasons for detaining a suspected member of the Malaysian Mujahidin Group (KMM) under the detention-without-trial Internal Security Act.

"We submit that the arresting officer [under the ISA] need not inform on the grounds in detail in effecting arrest," senior federal counsel Nordin Hassan said.

He said this on the last day of the hearing for the habeas corpus application by the suspect, Sejahratul Dursina @ Chomel Mohamad, against her detention. Her mother, Tuminah Kasmuri, filed the application at the Shah Alam High Court on May 9.

Habeas corpus is a writ to determine whether a person's detention is lawful.

Nordin pointed out that provisions within the ISA and also the Federal Constitution allows for secrecy even from the eyes of the high court.

"We further submit that the court is precluded from looking into the mind of the arresting officer to know the details of the grounds of arrest in that the court cannot look into the 'reason to believe'.

"Thus, there is no necessity for the arresting officer to state his 'reason to belief'," Nordin added.

Under the ISA, the police may detain a person for not more than 60 days if an arresting officer has reason to believe that the person has acted in any way detrimental to the 'national security' of Malaysia.

According to Nordin, under Section 16 of the same act, the Home Minister, a member of the ISA Advisory Board or any other civil servant is not required to reveal information or document detrimental to the national security.

"There is no necessity to state the basis and the arresting officer need not go beyond that. It is at the discretion of the officer," Nordin said.

Article 151(3) of the Federal Constitution also states that the authorities are not required to release information which is not in the national interest.

Legal access not denied but 'delayed'

Sejahratul, an IT company director, was arrested on April 17 for suspected links to the Malaysian Mujahidin Group (KMM) together with 13 others over a two-day period.

Her lawyers have argued that her incarceration was to pressure her husband Yazid Sufaat, an ISA detainee held last year to admit his militant involvement with the international terrorist group al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda was said to be responsible for the Sept 11 terrorists attacks on the US.

Nordin refuted the defence accusation that the police had in bad faith denied Sejahratul her constitutional right to counsel.

"We did not deny her right to counsel as guaranteed under the Constitution, we just delayed it until an appropriate time and the time would be determined by the detaining authority.

"This is so that their (police) investigations would not be impeded, more so in cases pertaining to national security," Nordin said.

One of Sejahratul's defence counsel, Edmund Bon, then shot back, asking why access was still denied at this point of the hearing when she had already been held under the ISA for 56 days as of today.

Another defence lawyer, R Sivarasa, said the detaining authorities cannot just rely on their 'reason to believe' but must specify the grounds of arrest.

"The officers must satisfy the court the reasons or the process becomes arbitrary and is open to abuse. There are safeguards but the police do not have them," Sivarasa said.

Also representing Sejahratul were Ranjit Singh, KY Ho, Saiful Izham and Malik Imtiaz. Besides Nordin, the government was represented by Kamaludin Mohd Said and Norbahri Baharuddin.

The presiding judge, Justice Zaleha Zahari, will deliver her judgment on Friday.