Tracking down and recording words uttered by an individual at any o­ne time is no longer an impossible task, thanks to the advances in satellite technology, claimed an Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee quoting his interrogators.

Saari Sungib, in a 60-chapter personal account of the grilling he underwent during the 60-day detention period between April 10 and June 2, 2001, claimed the chief investigating officer had repeatedly boasted about the police force's success stories.

In the 158-page report, Saari quoted the chief investigating officer as saying that o­nce recording devices are "hidden in pens and certain objects", the monitoring can proceed smoothly.

"The device is for voice identification and is stored in a satellite's memory," stated the report.

"Whenever we want to track down what an individual is saying in his/her speeches as well as in secret meetings, all we need to do is activate the satellite memory and the voice-recording is done."

Saari said the interrogators had also admitted that mobile phone calls were easier to trace, not unlike television airwaves.

"Police monitor and record mobile phone conversations between certain individuals. Recordings are also made of tapped phones of certain individuals."

He said while he was being told this, several interrogators pretended to caution their colleague against divulging details of the Special Branch's monitoring tactics, to make the claims seem real.

Saari's account of behind-the-scene details as 'fed' to him by his interrogators also gave an insight into interrogation methods, including o­n the Al-Ma'unah, Al-Arqam, serial rape cases, Bentong Kali (an alleged criminal gunned down by police in the early 1990s), Arab terrorists, high-

class sex workers, Ecstasy pills, coup d'etat within the police force, and political and religious personalities.

Top guns

Saari said the chief investigating officer was determined to convince him that the Special Branch had used available state-of-the-art equipment in order to monitor jailed deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim via closed-circuit camera.

At o­ne point, he said in the report, the officers almost trapped themselves when speaking of a technical unit within their team which positively identified the voice in the recording of a telephone conversation as Anwar's.

"They almost made it seem as if the Special Branch director himself was unaware of the technical unit's existence."

Saari quoted the chief investigating officer and other interrogators as saying that police have a file o­n every politician from both the ruling party and the opposition, including the prime minister and cabinet ministers.

"The interrogators declared that if any of the politicians' activities lead to a threat to national security, police will act immediately, including against the PM."

Apart from phone-tapping and voice-recording techniques, Saari said the interrogators also claimed to be able to trace fingerprints of criminals o­n cloths, wooden tables and carpets.

"(We can trace fingerprints) not o­nly o­n smooth surfaces such as glasses, mirrors or metal... we are sophisticated enough (to trace o­n other material as well)... don't play the fool, Saari," an interrogator was quoted as saying.

Saari said the chief investigating officer also revealed how police got hold of all the names of al-Ma'unah, the deviant Islamic cult members who were holed up in Bukit Jenalek, Perak, during the standoff with security forces in July 2000.

"...hah senang saja... bila suami ke... sedara ke tak balik... terutama isteri-isterilah... mereka pun buat report kat balai-balai polis... senang saja orang-orang kami kontek balai-balai tu... dapatkan nama-nama suami yang tak balik tu... kami pun check lah... confirm lah nama-nama orang yang ada di Jenalek... bukan susah sangat!"

("Well, it's easy... when husbands or relatives don't return home, usually it is the wives who lodge a missing persons report at police stations. Our people then contact the stations and get the names. So we ran checks... and we confirmed that they were the o­nes in Jenalek... it's not that difficult!"

Sex spies

In the report, Saari said the chief investigating officer repeatedly claimed that it was thanks to his strong faith and understanding wife that he had turned down tempting offers of bribes by rich businessmen and politicians.

"The interrogators, trying to impress me with their fidelity, kept reiterating that they monitored sexual activities for the sake of protecting national security."

He quoted an interrogator as saying that based o­n the voice recordings of rich womens' conversations, such (sexual) things were normal, and that tracking is done to ensure that these activities do not jeopardise national security.

"The officer said that while having sex was a private matter, they would intervene when the activities turn into a threat to national security."

Saari also quoted the chief investigating officer relating about his stay in a hotel during a trip to assess the social condition in the US. The officer said he had queried a sex worker in his room of her choice to be in the world's oldest profession despite having a high-paying professional job.

"He (the officer) asked me if I would dare be alone in a room with a prostitute. I said no and that such a thing is forbidden in Islam. Pointing to his chest, he then said 'iman kat sini' (faith is here)," said Saari.

In his report, Saari has declared that all the material contained in it was true as far as the police interrogation proceedings were concerned.

On Jan 31, Aliza Jaafar, Saari's wife, submitted the report to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) to ascertain the truth of the allegations as well as to address a violation of his basic right in being forced to put up with police boasting.

A copy has also been sent to the ISA review board.

Detained under the ISA in April 2001, Saari is currently held at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping, Perak, for an alleged attempt to overthrow the government via militant means.

He and five others detained o­n the same grounds have denied the charges.