Aliran Social reform movement Aliran today urged the government to stop overreacting to a recent e-mail rumour of an imminent terrorist attack in Kuala Lumpur and instead take other more "sensible" approach to mollifying the public.

Aliran said the recent spate of ISA arrests of several alleged rumour-mongers was "totally unjustified" as those who forwarded the e-mails may have done so without malice.

"Anyone who uses e-mail knows that people send and receive all kinds of messages jokes, news, greetings, quotes, words of wisdom, tales of sorrow, inspirational episodes and even lies and items of disinformation.

"There is an e-mail culture that leads people to share these messages with others without meaning ill intent or harm," said Aliran in a press statement.

Released on bail

The organisation said although it is opposed to any deliberate attempt by anyone to cause alarm and panic especially over "so serious a matter as terrorist attacks", this still does not justify the use of ISA to arrest people.

"The ISA arrests, non transparent as always, tantamount to terrorising basically innocent people who may have erred with no intention to cause mischief," the organisation said.

Since Tuesday, six women and one man aged between 22 and 40, were detained under Section 28 of the ISA when one of the recipients of the e-mail, the Australian High Commission, lodged a police report.

They were later released on bail and police have described the contents of the e-mails as "false and malicious".

Under Section 28, any person who makes false reports or statements likely to cause public alarm can be found guilty of an offence and if convicted (under Section 44(A)), face a fine of up to RM1,000, a one-year jail term or both.

Counter-productive arrests

Meanwhile, Aliran said the authorities should understand that the e-mails could also have been forwarded because of the heightened concerns over possible terrorist attacks.

"Is it too much for (the authorities) to accept that many citizens are easily unnerved by 'rumours' when they have been warned so frequently by the authorities themselves that all kinds of alleged militants and terrorists threaten our public security?

"In this case, the so-called 'rumour-mongering' has not caused panic and has no impact whatsoever on the public sense of security," the organisation said.

In addition, Aliran said the government should focus its attention on disproving the alleged rumours to the public.

"The pro-active solution is for the authorities to use the mass media they control to advise the public to ignore those and other rumours. That would have gone a long way in mollifying the public.

"Instead, the police have chosen the counter-productive method of using the ISA which can only heighten uncertainty and suspicion among our usually poorly-informed citizens."

Secretive arrests

Aliran pointed out if public concerns are raised over this case, it is partly because of the secretive manner in which the ISA arrests were carried out.

"As always, after arresting citizens under the ISA, the police act mysteriously. They do not bother or they fail miserably to produce evidence of the detainees' guilt.

"If the police have a case against the alleged 'rumour-mongering' detainees, let the authorities charge the detainees in court. Let the public know and understand what crimes and issues are involved," the organisation added.

Although there are provisions which allow for indefinite detention without trial, most other provisions under the Internal Security Act provide for offences which are prosecutable in court.

However, the distinction between these provisions are often unclear, leading many to believe that all persons arrested under the ISA will be denied legal representation, a situation aggravated by the refusal of the police to divulge more information on the identities of the persons arrested.

Yesterday, responding to reporters' questions on the uncertainty over the application of ISA provisions, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) chairperson Abu Talib Othman clarified that not every section of the ISA violates against human rights.

"There are provisions (under the ISA) for common offences and police are bound to investigate them...(Police action) is only offensive if (those arrested) are detained without trial," said the former attorney-general.