The Internal Security Act should not have been used against Sin Chew Daily senior journalist Tan Hoon Cheng, said Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today.

umno 62 anniversary 110508 hishammuddin The minister also revealed that he will raise this issue during Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.

Hishammuddin said although he agreed to the use of the ISA to protect national security, it should not be invoked to save or protect any individual, which was given as the reason to detain Tan.

"For the other two cases (ISA arrests of Malaysia-Today news portal editor, Raja Petra Kamarudin and Selangor executive councillor Teresa Kok), I feel the authorities are better in the know of the risks they posed but I do not have the information on it to comment if the arrests were justified.

"But in the context of the reporter, the minister concerned (Syed Hamid Albar) has stated the reasons but I personally feel the ISA should not have been used for the reasons he mentioned," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Tan was the journalist who had penned the report which highlighted the racial remarks made by Umno chieftain Ahmad Ismail.

She was arrested on Friday night and released some 18 hours later.

Turmoil in Umno

Differing from the stand taken by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Zaid Ibrahim who yesterday rejected outright the use of the ISA against non-terrorists, Hishammuddin said in a multi-racial country like Malaysia, threats to the nation's security and racial harmony must also be considered.

isa 3 teresa raja petra tan hoon cheng He also said the decision by the government to use the ISA should not be disputed by its members openly, but instead at the Cabinet.

On Zaid readiness to resign or be sacked for his stand, he said this was up to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Zaid had reportedly tendered his resignation this afternoon, but there has been no official confirmation regarding this.

On the Pakatan Rakyat's plan to topple the Barisan Nasional government tomorrow, Hishammuddin said the people would be able to see and evaluate for themselves the credibility of the coalition and leaders tomorrow.

Asked about attempts to topple the leadership of Abdullah in Umno itself, Hishammuddin, who is also Umno Youth chief, said if there was it would be settled within the party.