The Anti-ISA Movement (GMI) today launched its latest campaign to create public awareness regarding this detention-without-trial Act.

As part of the campaign, GMI aimed to flood the Prime Minister's Office with faxes from the public for the whole month of August.

The Internal Security Act came into existence 47 years ago today.

The purpose of the 'attack' is to call for the release of all ISA detainees as well as for the total abolition of the draconian law.

This tactic, called 'faxspam', will be implemented to indicate the movement's level of seriousness on this issue, said GMI president Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh ( photo ).

The campaign also involved passing out leaflets to the members of the public this afternoon at the Puduraya bus terminal.

Syed Ibrahim also said that Puduraya bus terminal was chosen as the place provided a good opportunity for the success of the campaign.

"Here we have people of various backgrounds and this is vital for outreach," he said.

"The choice of location and its context may effectuate the effectiveness of the campaign and we hope it will be a positive one," he added.

Silencing dissidents

Syed Ibrahim also said that exhibitions, movie screenings and a nationwide simultaneous leafleting activity are among the other initiatives taken by the group for this anti-ISA month-long campaign.

Malaysiakini also asked passerbys on their views on the ISA.

"This is definitely wrong. How can you detain and torture someone without first proving that he or she is wrong? It should be abolished," said a youngster named Hadi.

Another person of foreign nationality, a researcher on torture, when asked about the ISA, said: "Convicting someone without first proving them of their crime is unconstitutional let alone incarcerating them."

"The Patriot Act (in the USA), a law almost similar to that of the ISA in fact does not affect society as bad as the ISA," she continued.

"There (in USA) despite the law, people are still talking and are not afraid and the act itself is quite limited in a sense where they do not use it to suppress dissidents and criticism.

"Here the ISA has been used numerously to crush even the most innocuous of criticism," she said.