Several women activists complained that they were harassed by police officers while waiting to hand over an anti-ISA memorandum to Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday.

"We were chased, pushed into the lobby and were rudely treated by them," People's Manifesto Initiative representative Lee Siew Hwa told malaysiakini .

"They (police) also threatened to arrest us," she added.

Lee and four others were waiting at the Malaysian American Assurance (MAA) building at Jalan Lapangan Terbang, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday afternoon when police ordered them to move to the Kwang Si Chinese cemetery grounds nearby.

Several water cannon trucks and hundreds of police personnel, half of them women, stood watch around the cemetery grounds.

FRU personnel spotting red helmets, shields and rotan sticks were also on standby to disperse the 500-odd crowd and KL municipal trucks were deployed to tow away cars which were deemed to be disrupting the traffic.

Earlier, the crowd was diverted to the Chinese cemetery by the police after roads leading to Jalan Bellamy, which housed Abdullah's residence, were sealed. The Kwang Si cemetery is about 2km away from the home minister's residence.

'Coward minister'

At the cemetery grounds, the crowd which comprises 81 organisations carried placards and shouted slogans including "Coward minister", "Long live the people", "Abolish ISA" and the usual "Reformasi" before they dispersed at 3.30pm.

Other than the anti-ISA memo, the group also planned to hand over hundreds of postcards and letters from supporters all over the country who wanted the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial, abolished and all detainees freed.

PRM youth leader Latheefa Koya told malaysiakini she had similar 'hostile' experiences with the police. She said she was also told to leave the MAA building rudely by a Chinese policeman.

"I told the officer I know my rights. He said he also had rights too," said Latheefa, who is also a lawyer.

"He came so close he was about to cross the permissible distance between us. I don't know what I would have done if he had crossed the 'line'," she added.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia pro-tem committee president Dr Mohd Nasir Mohd Hashim said the police were initially very aggressive towards the crowd.

"They were harassing us to leave the premises. What kind of hostile attitude is this?" he asked. "They (police) live on our taxes but their mindset is sickening."

Mohd Nasir said the police had broken an important promise. The police had earlier agreed to allow a 12-person delegation to visit Pak Lah, as Abdullah is popularly known, at his residence.

The deal was cancelled by the police within minutes and the protesters were given half an hour to disperse.

Dell complimented

However, Mohd Nasir complimented KL city deputy police chief Dell Akhbar Khan for being more accommodating compared to his lower-ranked officers.

"This gathering is a good start. We'll continue as long as we have injustices. The ISA should never exist at all," said Mohd Nasir, who was himself a victim of the Act during the 1987 Operasi Lallang crackdown, along with 106 other dissidents.

Meanwhile, Barisan Alternatif leaders said they were extremely disappointed for not being able to meet with Abdullah, who was then in Sarawak for an official visit.

Before the crowd dispersed, a group tried to erect a banner calling for the abolishment of the ISA. The police, however, seized the banner, and they were booed by the crowd.

Keadilan president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who witnessed the incident said, "They are trying to provoke us but we must not give in to their provocation."

"Although, we did not manage to hand in the memorandum, we'll find another time," she said.

Meanwhile, DAP national publicity secretary Ronnie Liu, who was also present at the gathering, questioned Abdullah's decision to send four reformasi activists to the Kamunting detention camp in Perak.

"Tian Chua's 60 days are not up yet. This is technically wrong. We want Abdullah to justify his decision," he told malaysiakini .

National healing process needed

Chua, who is Keadilan vice-president, was one of the 10 reformasi activists arrested by the police in a crackdown beginning on April 10. The detainees were allegedly seeking to topple the government through militant means, including street demonstrations.

"We need a national healing process or else politics will become very bitter and there will be no chance for economic and social recovery, nor will there be any chance for greater democracy," Liu added.

Last Saturday, Abdullah sent Chua, Youth chief Nor Ezam Mohd Nor, party supreme council member Saari Sungib and film director-artiste-writer Hishamuddin Rais to Kamunting for a two-year detention period.

However, Free Anwar Campaign director Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin and human rights activist Badaruddin Ismail was set free a few days later.

Two Keadilan youth leaders N Gobalakrishnan and Abdul Ghani Haroon were released by the Shah Alam High Court while the fate of two others, Nor Adam Lokman and Badrul Amin Baharom, is still unknown.