Complaints of coercion have emerged as three Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees, currently being held at an undisclosed location in Kuala Lumpur, met with their families today.

The three - Mat Sah Mohd Satray, Mazlan Ishak and Syed Ali Syed Abdullah are among eight ISA detainees whose detention order was extended for two more years from last Sunday by the Internal Security Ministry.

Met outside the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman this afternoon, Norlaila Othman ( photo ), wife of technician Mat Sah, told malaysiakini that her husband complained of being pressured by Special Branch officers to admit to being a member of regional terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

Mat Sah and the other detainees were transferred last Friday from the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak to an undisclosed police remand centre in Kuala Lumpur.

This was effected under Section 18 of the ISA, which would allow the police to question them again to obtain more information.

Police remand centres are locations where ISA detainees are taken for questioning during the first 60 days of detention.

'Brainwashing session'

The men were allowed to meet their families for an hour each. Mat Sah spent 50 minutes with his wife, son, parents and five siblings at Bukit Aman.

Norlaila claimed that he had been put through a "brainwashing session - or what Special Branch officers would call a 'rehabilitation session', from 10am to 12pm, and from 2pm to 5pm daily".

She said officers had told Mat Sah that, if he admitted to being a part of JI and promised to keep a "low profile" while under detention, he would be assured of early release.

"According to him, the officers revealed that the hunger strike (by detainees in March) had given the country a bad image, and the government had a hard time trying to explain itself to the foreign press," said Norlaila, adding that her husband has refused to give in to coercion.

During the hunger strike, 16 male ISA detainees, alleged to be involved in militant groups, had refused food for 19 days and demanded that they be either charged in court or released.

The strike ended after the Kamunting camp commander promised to evaluate their cases, while (then) Home Ministry officials pledged to consider a review.

'Same pattern'

Norlaila said Bukit Aman officers had informed her that the detainees would be returned to Kamunting on Thursday.

The other five detainees are Azmi Khan Mahmood, Jaafar Saldin, Shakom Shahid, Shamsuddin Sulaiman, and Yusrin Haiti. It is not known whether they had the opportunity to meet their families today.

All are being detained under Section 8A(1) of the ISA for allegedly threatening national security' To date, the government has not revealed evidence to back its claims.

"It is the same pattern (of intimidation). The reason the government transfers them out of Kamunting for these 'interviews' is so that they can pressure them individually into saying that they are part of these organisations," Norlaila said.

"They did the same with those alleged KMM detainees, who were also brought out of Kamunting in small groups for 'interviews'. The government is trying hard to justify their actions.

"Why is the government not saying why they are still being detained? As long as he (Mat Sah) is still locked away, I will continue to work hard to highlight his case."