Apcet II : Decision next Tuesday

Thirty-two local human rights activists and journalists who filed a RM35-million suit against the government more than a decade ago, will know the outcome next Tuesday.

Appeals Court judge Wan Adnan Muhamad will deliver his decision on the Apcet II trial on Tuesday, according Putrajaya court officials this morning.

The suit was filed against the government over the group's wrongful detention at the Second Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor (Apcet II) on Nov 11, 1996.

Over 100 people were arrested on the opening day of Apcet II, held to discuss human rights abuses in East Timor and the troubled territory's struggle for independence from Indonesia.

On that day, as the conference was about to begin, 400 members of the Umno Youth-led Barisan Bertindak Rakyat Malaysia (BBRM), or Malaysia's People's Action Front, stormed the meeting at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

They broke down the conference hall doors, flung chairs and verbally and physically abused the participants.

Police then moved in to arrest the participants, who were detained for between one and six days, while 40 foreign participants were deported.

The activists later filed their suit to claim damages for alleged mistreatment by the authorities during their arrest and detention.

The defendants are former Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Ismail Che' Ros, former Dang Wangi OCPD Zainal Abidin Ali, investigations officer Chief Insp Tengku Hamzah Tengku Abdullah and the Malaysian government.

Among the 36 plaintiffs are the then Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president Dr Sanusi Othman, PKR deputy president Dr Syed Hussein Ali, PKR strategist Chua Tian Chua, Malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran, Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan and Malaysian Trade Union Congress president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamad.

Others include PKR vice-president R Sivarasa, Parti Sosialis Malaysia president Dr Nasir Hashim and former New Era College principal Dr Kua Kia Soong.

Related story: Judgment reserved as trial ends