A lawyer appearing for Seputeh MP Teresa Kok told the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya that her arrest and detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 2008 was unlawful as it was based on hearsay evidence.

Lawyer Sankara Nair added that when his client was arrested she was not initially told about the grounds of her arrest and this has violated her constitutional rights.

“The court has to be satisfied that there was an imminent danger or disturbance as claimed. Besides, there are laws other than the ISA to deal with this, such as the Penal Code.

“The people who created the rumour was former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, who was not called in as a witness. There was also a petition against her but the police did not interview those who signed it,” he said.

Sankara told the three-member bench that Kok was only informed about her detention under the Section 73 (1) of ISA the next morning after her arrest.

She was detained for seven days under the ISA, which was repealed in 2012.

The lawyer also pointed out on the evidence given by police interrogation officer that he was not provided with enough materials to question Kok of her alleged offence.

“Her seven-day arrest and detention was a waste of time. It is a slander against her which is not to be believed and yet police arrested her,” he added.

Sankara was submitting in his client's appeal over her suit for unlawful arrest and detention under the ISA.

This after the Kuala Lumpur High Court had dismissed her suit against then home minister Syed Hamid Albar and the government for her detention.

Kok also named the then inspector-general of police Musa Hassan, DSP Ee Kim Tien and the government, in which she claimed damages over her arrest and detention, allegedly over the azan (call for Muslim prayer) issue.

She was accused of telling mosque officials in Kota Damansara, Sri Serdang and Puchong Jaya to tone down the call to prayer.

She denied the allegations. Meanwhile, the Kota Damansara mosque clarified that it did not broadcast the azan due to a damaged amplifier, and not because of a directive from Kok.

Detention lawful

Senior federal counsel Lailawati Ali said Kok's detention was lawful and claimed the arresting officer told her the grounds of her arrest.

“She was informed of the arrest, hence the arrest and detention is not unlawful,” she said.

She further submitted that Section 73(1) of the ISA does not require the police to state the full grounds of the arrest.

Lailawati said the minister (Syed Hamid) was presented with a statement of facts, before the order for her arrest and detention was made according to Section 73 of the ISA.

Court of Appeal judge Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, who led the three-member bench, deferred the delivering of its decision to another date.

Court of Appeal judge Varghese George Varghese and High Court judge Zaleha Yusof were the other judges.

It was reported that in rejecting Kok's suit, Justice Su Geok Yiam ruled that the Seputeh MP's arrest and detention under the ISA was lawful.