A detainee still being held under the repealed Internal Security Act (ISA) claims to have been an informant * for the police Special Branch for about a decade before he was nabbed for terrorism.

parliament and anti isa internal security act His lawyer Farida Mohd said Tawau resident Bakar Baba had told her that he had been providing information to the police on the group Darul Islam.

"He said he did go to ceramah sessions and some training programmes (of Darul Islam) and because he admitted to the offences and cooperated with the SB, he was not arrested. He just had to check in with the SB from time to time," she said.

Farida, who acted on Bakar's behalf during an ISA advisory board hearing at the Kamunting detention camp yesterday, said the detainee claimed he was nabbed by a newly-formed "counter-terrorism task force".

"He insists that he is not a Darul Islam member," she said when contacted.

Bakar, who taught at SMK Umas Umas in Tawau, Sabah, prior to his arrest in January this year, was sacked from his job in June.

"A letter was sent to him in June. The Education Ministry said it was informed by the Home Ministry that Bakar was guilty of contravening the Civil Servants Regulations (Conduct and Discipline) 1993 by going against the ... Agong and the government," Farida said.

According to his detention order, Bakar is only due to be released in January 2014.

Picnic or training for militants?

Another detainee, Shamsuddin Alik, who is also accused of being a Darul Islam operative, told the advisory board that the statements he made to the police were changed by the investigating officer.

"He said he attended a public ceramah but this was changed to say that he attended a private usrah (discussion group)," his lawyer G Sivamalar said.

"He also said he organised picnics and exercise activities for the local mosque but this was changed to state that he organised militant training."

Shamsuddin also claimed he confessed to the charge under duress as the investigating officer told him he would be jailed for 20 years otherwise.

"However, the board members told him they cannot do much about his confession. His only option would be to file for a habeas corpus application, and we will consider this," Sivamalar said.

Farida also said detainee Fadzullah Abdul Razak, who had joined the hunger strike for freedom earlier, is still being held in solitary confinement.

He is expected to be released next month.

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* On Sept 19, 2012, Bakar's wife Zahorna Abdul Razak corrected this, saying he had cooperated with police by attending "rehabilitation" programmes, but was never an informant.