“The 13 of us didn’t know each other but when this case happened, we became like family because we have been seeing and helping each other throughout the length of the trial,” said Nashita Md Noor.

 

Nashita was talking about the family members of 13 people sentenced to jail on charges of participating in an illegal demonstration against the Perak coup in 2009.

 

Her husband - activist Bad Latif Mansor - is among the group of 13 who call themselves ‘ Orang Kena Zalim’ (Those who are Aggrieved).

 

They were there with other protesters in a bid to block Zambry Abdul Kadir’s swearing-in as Menteri Besar after the Pakatan-led state government was toppled over by crossovers after the 2008 general elections.

 

The 13 were sent to jail yesterday after failing in their bid at the Court of Appeal, which upheld their conviction but reduced their sentence from two years to 10 months.

 

Nashita and Bad Latif are PAS members and activists in the Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA coalition at the time.

 

She and her three children were outside Kajang prison last night ( above ) with 50 others to show support for the imprisoned activists.

 

With her husband’s imprisonment, she and her children have lost their breadwinner, but the full-time housewife told Malaysiakini that she was not worried.

 

Sure of help from public

 

She believed that members of the public would be willing to chip in, especially after receiving an encouraging response on Facebook .

 

She added that Perak PAS commissioner and PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar have promised to help, whereas PAS vice president Husam Musa have promised to visit.

 

“Since 2009, I have spent RM30,000 to go back and forth between Gombak and Perak,” she said last night.

 

If the hearings in Perak are postponed, for example when any witness did not show up, Nashita ( left ) and her husband would turn their court date into a Perak holiday instead.

 

The holidays were sweet memories for Nashita’s family after the long journey from Gombak to Perak.

 

When asked why they attended the rally, Nashita said they were sickened by how BN supposedly took power in Perak.

 

“Although I am not from Perak, our hearts pounded when we learned that Perak may be taken over by BN. We went there because we oppose BN’s tyranny,” she said.

 

Livelihood affected by trial

 

At the time of Bad Latif’s arrest on Feb 6, 2009 during the rally, he was a senior manager at Tabung Haji Teknologi, a government-linked company under the Prime Minister’s Department.

 

With tears flowing, Nashita recounted how the minister himself made a phone call to order Bad Latif’s dismissal, and how he has lost two more jobs over the past six years.

 

“Bad Latif was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by the Kuala Kangsar Sessions Court on Sept 13, 2013 and was imprisoned for seven days until he was released pending an appeal,” she said.

 

And once again, she sighed, Bad Latif had lost his job at a private company.

 

With the failed appeal yesterday, Nashita believed that Bad Latif would be dismissed from his current employment as well.

 

Despite having faced six years of hardship and going back and forth between their home in Gombak to the courts in Perak, Nashita still found it difficult to hold back her tears when she heard the latest court verdict.

 

Nevertheless there is still a silver lining, she said, when the 13 accused have become best friends, as though they are blood relations.

 

For Ammar, Bad Latif’s 19-year old son, his father never faltered and was in good spirit throughout his ordeal.  

“I am not very sad, just taken aback by the injustice of the judicial system,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, although saddened, Bad Latif’s 14-year old daughter Asiah said she would keep to her father’s words – not to cry and to study hard and keep up the good fight.