Aliran, DAP and Suaram have urged the authorities concerned to reinstate the 'ISA 7' into their universities immediately and without conditions.

Welcoming the release of the seven students by the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court yesterday, they said that the students must be given back their dues after what they had to go through in their four-year ordeal.

The seven were expelled from their respective varsities - Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Institut Teknologi Mara (UITM) - for alleged involvement in an illegal assembly in 2001.

The court however decided there was no proof that the seven had organised and participated in an anti-Internal Security Act (ISA) demonstration outside the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur on June 8 that year.

Aliran congratulated the students for their conviction and resilience throughout their ordeal.

"The students had been banned from attending classes by their universities. They later appealed to the Education Ministry (but were told) that they could only be reinstated if they apologised - a condition they did not accept.

"We congratulate the students for standing firm to their principles.

"Four years of their lives have been wasted thanks to the universities' high-handed action in suspending them and to the police for taking them to court without just cause. They had been punished even before they could be found guilty," said the Penang-based rights group.

Compensate and apologise

The three organisations also demanded that the authorities compensate the seven dutifully and adequately.

"In light of the gross injustice meted upon the students, we urge the Education Ministry to compensate - with full scholarships - all seven students to courses and universities of their choice," said Suaram.

Meanwhile, Aliran submitted that the compensation must be large enough to deter similar actions by the authorities which are based on "flimsy and frivolous grounds".

"This will also force the police to be more responsible in their actions," it said, adding that the police's high-handedness bolstered demands for the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) to be abolished.

The seven themselves have called for the repeal of the UUCA, which is a statute - contradictory to the Federal Constitution - that curbs students' freedoms of expression and association.

DAP Youth (Dapsy) also reiterated its calls for "oppressive laws such as the Police Act (1967), ISA and UUCA which restricts and undermines fundamental human liberties to be repealed".

Suaram added that the universities, education minister and the police force must offer public apologies to the seven students, Rafzan Ramli, Helman Sanuddin, Wan Sanusi Wan Mohd Noor, Khairul Amal Mahmud, Nik Noorhafizi Nik Ibrahim, Ahmad Kamal Abdul Hamid and Zulkefle Idris.