About 40 lawyers will be assigned to provide legal advice to detainees held under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969 at the Simpang Renggam detention centre in Johor.

Bar Council vice-president Ambiga Sreenevasan said this is part of the council's plan to aid the detainees who are held without trial.

She was speaking to reporters after receiving a memorandum from human rights watchdog Suaram calling for the repressive law to be abolished.

The lawyers are slated to meet the detainees next year.

The Ordinance, commonly referred to as EO, grants the police power to detain suspects without trial for up to 60 days. Thereafter, the Home Ministry can extend the detention for up to two years.

"The EO is a terrible blot in the legal landscape as it allows severe violations of human rights," said Ambiga.

The veteran lawyer also reiterated the Bar Council's stand that the EO and preventive laws that allow detention without trial, be repealed.

Inconsistencies abound

Meanwhile, Bar Council secretary Ragunath Kesavan said there were inconsistencies in the government's stand on the EO.

"In the case of (suspected triad boss) Koo Tee Yam, the police and the Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar said the court order (that his detention was invalid) must be respected. This should be done across the board, without looking at the status of the person," he stressed

Koo, a well known businessman, was released from Simpang Renggam on Oct 27 following a court order.

However, he was detained by the police immediately with the same charge after his release but was freed unconditionally two days later.

Ragunath said re-arresting a suspect released by the courts or one whose detention period had expired for the same charge was unjustifiable.

A majority of detainees in Simpang Renggam are those held in connection with gangland crimes. Between January and May this year, 45 detainees were released based on their habeas corpus applications but a small number were rearrested immediately.

Double standards

Also present at the meeting was A Thirumoorthy, brother of EO detainee Balakrishnan Appala Naidu.

Balakrishnan was rearrested ( video footage ) immediately after a court declared his detention invalid and ordered his release.

Thirumoorthy said he personally met the authorities to discuss matters pertaining to his brother, but their response was disappointing.

When Balakrishnan underwent a hunger strike to protest his incarceration last year, Thirumoorthy had sought the attention of Noh Omar, who allegedly told him that, "If he dies from the hunger strike, so be it. Its not my problem. He chooses to starve himself".

"Its very convenient for the police to send people to Simpang Renggam. We don't need judges anymore because the ministers are the judge, while the police become the prosecutors," said Thirumoorthy.

According to Suaram's memorandum, Balakrishnan, in a letter to the prime minister on Nov 14, accused the authorities of practicing double standards during Koo's release.

Balakrishnan is presently serving his two year restricted residence order at Jeli, Kelantan. He was a former MIC branch chairperson in Johor.

Others present were Suaram coordinators S Arutchelvam and Chang Lih Kang, lawyer Ameer Hamzah and human rights activist V Selvam.