Lawyers who managed to gain second access to the 'Karachi 7' students held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) today again complained that the meetings with the detainees were closely monitored by police officers.

The seven were among the 13 students arrested in Pakistan in late September for alleged involvement in militant activities but were cleared and released later. However they were arrested by the Malaysian police upon arrival at Kuala Lumpur on Nov 11.

Two other students who had also been part of the legal action with these seven students have been released by the authorities.

The legal team who first met the students two weeks ago also similarly complained that the presence of police officer has rendered it difficult for them to obtain sufficient information from their clients. Their request for a private meeting was rejected at that time.

Turned down again

A same request was turned down this morning by the officer-in-charge from the special branch division, Yusoff Mohd Amin.

"At the outset of the meeting, we told the officer-in-charge that we object to the presence of police officers because the communication between counsel and their clients should be privileged communication and the police shouldn't be there," lawyer Abdul Rashid Ismail told reporters outside the Bukit Aman police headquarters.

He told the police that it is the right of the detainees for legal consultation as provided under Article 5(3) of the Federal Constitution and the refusal tantamount to a violation of that fundamental right.

"But our request was rejected. We informed (the police) of our objection and today's interviews were carried out under protest," Abdul Rashid said.

Yusoff refused to be interviewed by reporters at his office later and declined to make any comment.

Abdul Rashid said the lawyers would raise this matter in court when the hearing resumes next Thursday.

According to him, the plainclothes officers sat in the same room within sight and hearing distance during the separate meetings with the seven students.

The legal team started meeting the seven at 9am and the session ended at about 12.30pm. Each of the seven was given 20 minutes to communicate with two lawyers.

The lawyers also said that the students' state of health as being satisfactory.

Apart from Abdul Rashid, lawyers Latheefa Koya, Edward Saw and Henry Leong also represented the students.

Latheefa stressed that the presence of policemen was inappropriate from a legal perspective since the police - with the home minister and the government - have been named as respondents in the habeas corpus affidavits by these students.

( Habeas corpus is a writ ordering prisoners to be brought before a court to ascertain if there are any procedural defects which could render their detention unlawful)

Affidavits signed

Meanwhile, another three students signed their respective habeas corpus affidavits today during the meeting. These new applications will be filed in the Kuala Lumpur High Court tomorrow.

The three are Mohammad Akil Abdul Raof (21), Muhammad Ariffin Zulkarnain (18) and Mohd Radzi Abdul Razak (19).

The original motion filed by mothers of the students were disallowed by the court on Nov 22 on the grounds that those aged18 and above should be asked to sign their own affidavits. The court ordered them to resubmit fresh applications.

Two of the seven - aged below 18 - filed their new applications via their mothers earlier this week while the remaining two have yet to instruct their lawyers to take similar action.

Certain quarters claimed the students were threatened against pursuing legal action and requests were made to their parents to drop the legal cases.

Asked whether the duo were subjected to this intimidation, Abdul Rashid said he did not have any personal knowledge on the claims.

Meanwhile, human rights body Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) coordinator Yap Swee Seng who was also present this morning said his group will lodge a complaint to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia tomorrow morning over the violation of legal rights of these students.