The Abolish ISA Movement (GMI) has denied ‘detaining’ the brother of an Internal Security Act detainee for three hours outside the Bukit Aman police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur last Monday.

Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan had accused activists from the human rights organisation of ‘detaining’ Junaidi, 27, the younger brother of Agus Salim who was arrested last month for alleged links with Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah.

Musa said he was informed that several GMI activists had purportedly ‘detained’ the Indonesian national in a car for about three hours.

Responding to the allegation, GMI secretary E Nalini sent a lengthy statement to Malaysiakini detailing what had transpired on that day.

According to Nalini, she and another GMI colleague, Nashitah Mohd Noh, accompanied Junaidi and his 56-year-old mother Kartam to the police headquarters on April 20 to seek Agus’ release.

Both Junaidi and Kartam had flown from Medan to Kuala Lumpur three days earlier, and stayed in an accommodation provided by Nashitah. On same day of their arrival, they went to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to seek its intervention on the ISA arrest.

Nalini said that they arrived in Bukit Aman at 11.30am but since she was not allowed to accompany them into the building, she went back to the GMI office, leaving Nashitah behind to wait for both mother and son.

However, an hour later Nalini received a call from Nashitah saying that Junaidi had emerged from the police headquarters without his mother.

“She told me that a Special Branch officer had instructed Junaidi to return to his temporary accommodation in Kuala Lumpur, pack his bags and come back to Bukit Aman so that the police could send both mother and son back to Johor,” she said.

The family has a home in Johor, where Junaidi’s younger sister Fatin stayed with his brother, Agus.

Agus, who is a cook in a restaurant, was arrested in early March by a team of police officers from Bukit Aman for alleged involvement in a bank robbery in Indonesia and for having links with Jemaah Islamiah.

Half an hour after receiving the call, Nalini ( right ) returned to Bukit Aman where she saw Nashitah and Junaidi inside a car parked near the compound of the police headquarters.

“He (Junaidi) told us that the police did not allow his mother to leave the police station until he had packed their bags so that they could be sent back to Johor,” she said.

This was despite Junaidi having apparently told the police that they did not need their help to go to their family home.

“But as a result of police pressure, he (Junaidi) asked Nashitah to send him so that he can pack his and his mother’s belongings. When we asked him why he had to leave, he refused to answer.

“All he could say was, ‘this is for your own good too’,” said Nalini, adding that Junaidi also complained that his passport and handphone were ‘seized’ by the police.

Police chief Musa had since clarified that it was standard procedure for those visiting ISA detainees to hand over their passports and handphones until after their visit.

Police could not be contacted

On learning that the police wanted the family to leave town, Nalini called ASP Zaini Akhir, the police officer who led the team in arresting Agus on March 1.

She asked Zaini why the mother and son were being told to go to Johor and urged him to ‘release’ Kartam immediately.

“He promised to see his boss about it and let me know the details. I then told him if he did not call me back within 15 minutes, I would inform the matter to the media,” she said.

When she failed to hear from Zaini after 40 minutes, Nalini decided to contact a few media organisations, including Malaysiakini. She tried to call Zaini again but was unable to reach him.

“At about 2.40pm, I called another officer named Shahrul to get more information on Kartam. I asked him why she had not been released and why the police wanted to bring both of them back to Johor.

“He (Shahrul) however did not answer my questions. Instead, he told me that the police were on their way to send the mother to us,” she said.

Five minutes later, Kartam was dropped off from a white Proton Waja accompanied by a female officer.

“We asked her (the female police officer) why Kartam had been held inside (the building) for about three hours and what the police had told her. She did not respond and just left,” continued Nalini.

According to Nalini, Kartam claimed the police had informed her that Agus would be released within a week.

She also told Nalini that the police had allegedly ‘pressured’ her and Junaidi to return to their family home in Johor and go back to Medan.

“She (Kartam) also said that the police had warned her not to mix with GMI people as it would aggravate their situation,” claimed Nalini.

“We tried to explain to her about the real situation involving ISA and how the police would give false hopes to detainees. That was when we suggested to bring the matter to the Indonesian consulate ,” she added.

However, Nalini said Kartam began crying.

“They were very calm before they came to the police station. But after that (on coming out of the police headquarters), they looked as if they were in fear and the mother even stopped talking to us,” said Nalini.

“The next day, they left their temporary shelter in Kuala Lumpur for Johor Bharu without even notifying us. We only learnt about it at 8am when Junaidi called us, saying that they were already at the Puduraya bus station and they would be departing in an hour,” she added.

IGP: Malaysiakini’s report baseless

Police chief Musa had on Friday refuted GMI’s allegations that the police put pressure on both Junaidi and Kartam.

According to him, the police had used their discretion to allow the family to spend four hours with Agus.

Musa ( left ) also said the police had lodged a report against Malaysiakini for alleging that the detainee’s family members had been ‘threatened’.

“The Malaysiakini report alleging that we had pressured, threatened and seized the family members’ handphones and passports is totally baseless,” he was quoted as saying by news reports.

Malay daily Utusan Malaysia had interviewed Junaidi in Johor and he denied he was ‘pressured’ by the police.

He said that there was a misunderstanding which led to the incident being ‘misreported’ by Malaysiakini .

Junaidi told Utusan that throughout their visit to Bukit Aman, the police were ‘nice’ to them.

According to him, he had to leave the police station to pack his belongings and had asked his friend, Nashitah, to drive him back to his temporary accommodation.

“Upon seeing me leaving the police station all by myself, she did not want to send me home just yet in case my mother was being held by the police. I told her that she was okay, and that in fact she was having a chat with my brother,” said Junaidi.

Malaysiakini has tried unsuccessfully to contact Junaidi. He is believed to have returned to Medan.