Five Karachi students detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) have told visiting Suhakam officials that they had confessed "voluntarily" to allegations against them that they had links to regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) head of investigation Jamaluddin Othman said the students conveyed this during an hour-long meeting with a five-member Suhakam team.

"The students appeared healthy and they were happy to see the Suhakam team. They said they received good treatment and that they had admitted voluntarily to the allegations made against them by the authorities," he said when contacted today.

Jamaluddin said the five students were advised of their rights by Suhakam commissioners KC Vohrah ( photo ) and Dr Monir Yaacob but had persisted that they do not want to seek further legal action to secure their release.

Aside from Jamaluddin, the two commissioners were also accompanied by two other investigation officers for the morning meeting at the Bukit Aman police headquarters.

Monitored access

On the conditions of the visit, Jamaluddin said the Suhakam officials were allowed to meet all five students together although they were not granted unmonitored access.

"We asked for the meeting to be carried out without police presence but they insisted that one officer sits in," he said.

He said the Suhakam officials are due to meet today to decide whether there is anything else the commission could do to assist the students.

The five detained students are part of a group of 13 who were first arrested in Karachi on suspicions of involvement in militant activities.

They were deported from Pakistan in November last year but arrested upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur under the ISA on grounds that they had been training to take over the next tier of leadership within JI.

Four of the students were subsequently released unconditionally while another four were placed under two-year restricted residence orders which limit their movements to the district where their family homes are located.

'Turned over' students

Meanwhile, a lawyer representing four of the detained students, Amer Hamzah Arshad, said his clients cannot be considered to have admitted to the crimes as they are being held against their will with no proper access to legal advice.

"How can they say anything else when there is a special branch officer listening in to every word they say? When we (the lawyers) visited them in the past, each boy was accompanied to the interview by three or four officers," he said.

Amer said that if it is indeed true that the students had confessed, then the authorities should be able to bring them to trial in an open court and not continue to deny them trial.

Following their last visit, lawyers had issued a statement claiming that prolonged detention had severely affected the students' mental and emotional well-being.

They claimed that the students had been "turned over" as a result of continuous interrogation and denial of regular access to family members.

Despite the students' alleged wish not to pursue the matter, Amer said their family members have insisted on going ahead with court applications to secure their release.

"The students are unable to decide (in their best interests) because they are no longer themselves. Their family members want to pursue the matter," he added.

A previous attempt by family members to file habeas corpus applications on behalf of the Karachi students was thrown out by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on grounds that the students should submit personal affidavits rather than those affirmed by their kin.

However, lawyers have said they should not be bound by this requirement because of the altered mindset of the students due to psychological stress.