The Federal Court today was told that Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Hishamuddin Rais was ordered to lie to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) on the conditions of his detention during a visit by the human rights body.

"Two days before the visit came from Suhakam, senior police officers who were interrogating me came into the interrogation room and informed me that Suhakam would come and that I would have to put on a good appearance to Suhakam about the treatment I was receiving," Hishamuddin said in his affidavit of appeal against the dismissal of his habeas corpus application in April.

"They tried to persuade me by saying, 'We are looking at all aspects of the meeting. If you give a good impression, then we will give a good report about you to the higher authorities for your early release."

The human rights body visited ISA detainees at the city police headquarters on May 29 this year.

Lead counsel Sulaiman Abdullah also told the Federal Court that before Suhakam's visit, police interrogators tried to brainwash Hishamuddin by saying that "Suhakam consisted of American agents and are paid by former US vice-president Al Gore".

Today marks the third session of an appeal by the social activist-cum- malaysiakini columnist, and Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua, party youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor and party leader Saari Sungib, against Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Augustine Paul's April 25 dismissal of their habeas corpus applications.

Paul had ruled that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter.

A fifth appellant, Freeanwar.com webmaster Raja Petra Kamaruddin was unconditionally released by the police before the appeal could take place.

The five detainees were among 10 reformasi activists arrested by the police in April to pre-empt what Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai had described as an attempt to "overthrow the government through militant means".

Verbal abuse

The Federal Court today chaired by Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah allowed the defense team to submit further evidence from the affidavits of the five appellants as well as those of other ISA detainees as the affidavits were "clearly relevant to the appeal".

In his affidavit, Hishamuddin also gave accounts of the verbal abuse he endured and accusations of him associating with opposition parties.

"You guys are demonstrating - if PAS or the Barisan Alternatif wins, we'll all take to the streets with weapons. We are trained and we have experience. BA won't last a week," an interrogator was alleged to have told Hishamuddin.

Sulaiman Abdullah also told the five-member Federal Court that the questions asked during interrogation were irrelevant to the issue of national security and therefore showed mala fide (bad intention) in the arrests.

"The questions asked of the detainee had nothing to do with national security. Instead questions about opposition parties were asked and the interrogators asked them to join the ruling party and stop supporting the former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim," Sulaiman said.

He added that police chief Norian had abused the ISA and used 'national security' to justify the secrecy of the detentions.

"It is one seamless web of deception that is being used to justify the detentions," Sulaiman said.

Method has no bearing

Senior Federal Counsel Azahar Mohamed, however, argued that the affidavits which Sulaiman submitted were not relevant to the issue at hand.

"The issue before the court is the legality of the initial detention of the appellants under the police. The method of questioning has no bearing on the issue," he said.

Azhar added that the purpose of the interrogation was to obtain security intelligence and that even if the questions did not seem relevant, the interrogators usually have good reasons for asking.

"[In] conducting an inquiry into matters pertaining to national security, the questions may not [seem pertinent] to us but they [are] to the police," Azhar added.

The four appellants are also represented by R Sivarasa, Christopher Leong and Malik Imtiaz Sarwar. The police are represented by Attorney-General Ainom Said.

The other judges on the bench are Chief Judge of the High Court of Malaya Wan Adnan Ismail, Chief Judge of the High Courts of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim Lip Kiong, and Federal Court's Siti Norma Yaakob and Abdul Malek Ahmad.

The hearing will continue on a yet-to-be decided date.