Following the government's admission yesterday that the Internal Security Act (ISA) was abused during Operasi Lalang in 1987, one of the 106 detainees has revived demands for a public apology and compensation from the government.

mca disciplinary board 230210 chan tse yuen In addition, lawyer Chan Tse Yuen (left) proposed that a committee be formed, comprising all the victims of Operasi Lalang, in order to demand justice.

The committee should be headed by DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang who was also detained during the police crackdown on politicians and activists, he suggested.

In a statement issued today, Chan, 60, urged the current BN government and then home minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to issue an unreserved apology to all Operasi Lalang detainees and their families.

The government should also give financial compensation for the physical and psychological torture, as well as the denial of their dignity during the detention, he said.

Earlier demands rejected

Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz had conceded in the Dewan Rakyat that the ISA had been misused to detain persons for political reasons during the Operasi Lalang.

NONE Although Chan commended Nazri's (right) courage in admitting the government's mistake, he stressed that this should be followed by an apology.

Chan was the MCA Youth deputy chief from 1990-1993. He left the political scene in 1993 and attempted to make a comeback in 2005, challenging then MCA deputy president Chan Kong Choy, but failed.

Last year, the same demands had been raised by the Abolish ISA Movement, a group campaigning to repeal the draconian law.

However Nazri had rejected the demands on the ground that the detentions had been imposed legally, through powers conferred by law on the police.