Former
political prisoners in Singapore have demanded the abolition of a British
colonial law allowing detention without trial after neighbouring Malaysia vowed
to repeal similar legislation.
In a rare public message, carried by an independent website
and reported in pro-government media Tuesday, 16 former detainees held under
the Internal Security Act (ISA) said it was time to abolish the controversial
law.
"Singapore inherited the ISA from Malaysia. This law has
been in existence for more than half a century and its impact on society is
both crippling and pernicious," the petitioners said.
The ISA, first implemented by Britain after World War II to
fight communist insurgents in colonies collectively known as Malaya, was
retained by Singapore after it became independent from the Malaysian federation
in 1965.
The ISA has been denounced by critics in both nations as a
tool to stifle dissent, but Singapore rejected calls for its abolition after
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced last week that his government
would repeal it.
In a statement on Friday, Singapore's Ministry of Home
Affairs said the ISA remained "relevant" against threats of
subversion, racial and religious extremism, espionage and terrorism.
"No person has ever been detained only for their
political beliefs," the ministry said.
The Singapore petitioners included Chia Thye Poh, who spent
26 years in detention and was one of the world's longest-held political
prisoners along with South Africa's democracy icon and former president Nelson
Mandela.
Chia was a 1960s socialist intellectual and opposition MP who
was accused of being a communist subversive, a charge he firmly denied.
Seven of the signatories were detained in 1987 for an alleged
Marxist conspiracy against the government of Singapore's founding leader Lee
Kuan Yew, who was prime minister from 1959 to 1990.
Lee, 88, stepped down in May as an adviser to the cabinet of
his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, following a general election in which
the ruling party lost six seats and garnered an all-time low of 60 percent of
the vote.
Since the campaign for the May polls, government critics have
become increasingly bolder in their demands for greater political freedom in
Singapore.
Last month's presidential election, in which former deputy
prime minister Tony Tan won by a slim margin against three rivals with just 35
percent of the vote, was seen as a further sign of public support for reforms.
"Singapore has many existing laws that will deal with
acts of terrorism," the petitioners said, citing the penal code and laws
specifically directed at terrorism, firearms and explosives possession and
illicit fund transfers.
"These laws provide severe punishments which include
death, life imprisonment and caning."
There was no immediate reaction from the home ministry to the
petition.
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Source : AFP
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