A police officer decided in 2001 to extend the interrogation period of Chua Tian Chang, better known as Tian Chua, for an extra 28 days for lying down before a police water cannon truck.

NONE ASP Cheah Kee Sam said this in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today when asked for his grounds in extending the detention  period of Chua, better known as Tian Chua ( right ), under the Internal Security Act on Aprtil 12, 2001.

The officer said Chua's action showed that the then Parti Keadilan Nasional vice-president was involved in a demonstration that "could threaten the public order".

Tian Chua was lying down in front of the water cannon at Dataran Merdeka, Cheah said at the ongoing hearing of five former ISA detainees who are suing the government for unlawful detention.

"He demonstrated to the level of lying in front of P100 (a police water cannon) at Dataran Merdeka," the senior police officer told the court this morning.

However, the plaintiff's lawyer Razlan Hadri Zulkifli was quick to remind Cheah that that incident took place in 1998, which should not be the grounds for a decision made in 2001.

' Never happened before!'

Cheah responded: "But this has never happened in Malaysia before! (Chua) created a history!"

He cited insufficient time to complete the interrogation, within 48 hours from April 10 to 12 that year, as another reason.

Asked again why 48 hours was not enough, Cheah's answer was: "I don't remember."

NONE Chua was taken by the police on April 10, 2001 for allegedly trying to topple the government by force.

On April 12, Cheah signed an order from the police informing Chua that his arrest had been extended by 28 days.

The other plaintiffs - Hishamuddin Rais, Badarudin Ismail, Badrulamin Baharom and Saari Sungib - were also arrested in April 2001 and had their interrogation periods similarly extended.

Today, five police officials including Cheah were called as witnesses for the defence to to explain why they signed the orders to extend the detentions.

All of them concurred that they signed the orders after going through summary reports submitted by subordinate officers, without speaking to the plaintiffs themselves.

The other police officers also said that meeting the plaintiffs beforehand was not necessary because Section 73(3)(B) of the ISA empowered them to extend the arrest period.

Case to continue at 2pm tomorrow

During the sitting after the lunch break, police officer Mohd Azhar Mohd Hanafiah testified that he was the case officer responsible for furnishing the five grounds for Saari to be detained for more than 60 days.

Azhar said he prepared the grounds based on the inputs given by his colleagues and Saari himself and submitted this in a report to a (Home Ministry) assessment officer, identified only as “Mohd Arif”.

However, he said, Saari made a representation before the ISA Advisory Board after he was sent to the Kamunting detention centre, after which the grounds were reduced to four.

Azhar also said he was not named as the defendant in the advisory board’s hearing and only learned about the matter later.

The key witness also made a surprising announcement that he would be leaving for the Philippines on Monday, for a one-year mission with army, forcing judge Lau Bee Lan to break with protocol and to fix for the hearing to continue at 2pm tomorrow.