'Mr ISA' will go on trial on Saturday to answer for atrocities against those detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) under the police sweep code-named Operasi Lalang .

Politicians, activists, educationists, social workers, trade unionists, environmentalists and church workers were among 106 people rounded up over a week from Oct 27, 1987.

Human rights watchdog Suaram said Malaysians "will be the judge for the first time in a People's Hearing" on the mass arrests and detention without trial.

The mock trial will be held on Saturday - the 20th anniversary of Operasi Lalang - at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Asssembly Hall from 9am.

Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng said it will feature testimony from former detainees - Sim Boh Yu, a senior leader of the Chinese education movement; Irene Xavier, an activist in issues affecting women workers; PAS members Khalid Abdul Samad and Mohd Yusof Husin; and Dr Kua Kia Soong, an educationist and former DAP member.

"Families and friends of former detainees will testify about how the ISA was used to terrorise (them) and the ordeal that they had to go through, especially when arrests were conducted at midnight by the police and Special Branch," Yap told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

"The People's Hearing will provide a rare opportunity for the public to listen to the stories and opinions of victims, lawyers and independent experts, and make their own judgement whether the ISA arrest and detention was right and just."

Two lawyers who represented the detainees at the time - Ngeow Yin Yee and PKR vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah - will speak about their experiences in getting them freed, while former Bar Council president Yeoh Yang Poh will submit a 'legal view' on the ISA.

Public education

Yap said human rights groups will continue to call for a public inquiry into Operasi Lalang.

"It is also an event for public education because a lot of (young) people have no memory of Operasi Lalang .

"It is important for them to be exposed to events which have had far-reaching implications, not only for detainees and their families, but for issues of press freedom and the judiciary."

Three newspapers - The Star, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Watan and - lost their publishing and printing licences during the crackdown. The print media has never recovered from that blow, which has institutionalised media subservience to the government.

The judiciary, meanwhile, is still feeling the adverse impacts of a crisis in 1988 with the sacking of Lord President Salleh Abas.

The People's Hearing is organised by Suaram with support from the Centre for Independent Journalism, Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat, Anti-ISA Movement and the Civil Rights Committee of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.