Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mas Selamat, the celebrated "terrorist" accused by Singapore of trying to blow up Singapore airport and several Singapore aircraft to boot, 9/11 style, had escaped from Singapore's top security detention center in broad daylight and just strolled away to the eternal shame of Lee Kuan Yew's so called top notch island city state. 2 years later, a few months ago, he was handed over by the Johore Police to Singapore who have since put him back in jail.
But one thing that Singaporeans either are not aware of or deliberately do not wish to know is the startling fact that up till now, for the many years that this poor man has been kept in jail and his liberty denied him, he has never yet been charged with any crime at all! Like a bunch of Lee Kuan Yew gangsters, their Singapore police with their guns had just arrested him, jailed him and literally thrown away the key, yet again! This sort of thing does not usually happen in this day and age, let alone in a modern city state which claims to be first world.
Their excuse to arbitrarily jail Mas Selamat is their law, the Internal Security Act. Under this law, anyone, including you, can be arrested at the fancy of Lee Kuan Yew or any of his minions, accused of being a threat to national security and simply locked away without trial.
I am not sure if there can be any justification for a law like this which permits detention without trial in other circumstance but in this particular case, there are none.
If in fact the government claims that he wanted to blow up Singapore Airport and let us assume Lee Kuan Yew himself and his politically embattled son, the present Prime Minister to smithereens, then produce the evidence. If he wanted to fly a Cessna 172 as pilot in command into the airport control tower, then produce his pilot licenses, produce his flight instructors and his pilot log book to show his flight hours logged. Produce the TNT or other chemicals or evidence. Don't just write in the paper that he wanted to do this that or the other and just jail him for as long as you want.
Let me give a stern warning to this government of Lee Kuan Yew. You have no right to imprison this man without trial. The Constitution requires a fair trial. You are torturing and punishing a man without just cause. You are seen to day as a cruel island republic which has the highest execution rate in the world, barbaric punishments such as beatings and torture and a place that uses the law to silence critics of your dictator Lee Kuan Yew. A place that has no free press, no independant judiciary and in brief an Alice in Wonderland comedy island.
By what is seen as a barbaric lawless country, you are driving away good Singaporeans overseas permanently and making your island republic the laughing stock of the world, the object of odium, ridicule and contempt.
Give Mas Selamant a trial or release him now. Remember, the law states, a man is innocent until proven guilty.
To me, based on the fact that Lee is unable to produce any evidence against him, means you have none. Therefore in my eyes, and the eyes of good people around the world, Mas Sealamant is not only innocent, he is also a Hero. To me, he is certainly a hero, for being able to withstand the suffering, the brutality, the imprisonment and solitary confinement all these years, yet kept his sanity and his state of mind intact. I look upon him as another Henri Charriere of Papillon fame, imprisoned on Devils Island, French Guiana for decades and finally escaped. Even if Papillon never really escaped and it was all a figment of his imagination, still it was one great story, and something like what is happening to our Mas Selamat with his daring escape, by swimming the Johore Straits.
Hang in there Mas Selamat, (Papi) we love you. You are not a terrorist in my eyes, you are a Hero. The only terrorists here are Lee Kuan Yew, his son and his minions. Stay strong Mas, if I could call you that. You will be vindicated, we promise you that. You will be free.
If you can escape again, do it. You are lawfully justified in that action.
And if there is anything I could do for you from the US, please do not hesitate to ask. From my understanding of the law, the US will not support this imprisonment without trial. Guantanamo was a completely different species of animal which as no relation to a case like yours. If you manage to escape and can somehow enter the US, I will help you obtain sanctuary.
Hang in there Mas Selamat. You are a Hero.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
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9 comments:
LKY is doing reverse engineering by punishing Mas Selamat's family members first and then using the evidence of the harbourors to justify the continued detention of the principal offender. The question I ask is that if the principal offender has not been proven guilty how can they punish the harbourors. The family was bullied into submission and certainly this is not consistent with Shariah Law being repugnant to the good order and harmony of the family as of primary importance.
What LKY could not do by the front door he now does it through the back door.
The following are excerpts of reporting by Malaysian Insider of what Shanmugam told the Singapore Parliament.
Mas Selamat is a hardened and dangerous terrorist, who has been involved in various plots by the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to mount terrorist attacks in Singapore since the 1990s. He is operationally trained and has undergone training not once but twice in Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.
After the Singapore authorities disrupted the Singapore JI network in December 2001 and averted the terrorist plot to conduct simultaneous truck bomb attacks in Singapore, Mas Selamat plotted to mount retaliatory attacks against Singapore.
Harbouring Mas Selamat and assisting him to escape from Singapore placed Singapore’s and Singaporeans’ security in serious jeopardy as Mas Selamat would thereby be able to resume his terrorist activities of attacking Singapore.
The Government had stated in Parliament on Feb 28, 2008 that anyone who rendered assistance to Mas Selamat would be committing a “grave offence.”
Nur Aini, Asmom and Aisah were arrested and charged on Nov 10, 2010 under Section 130 of the Penal Code for their roles in knowingly harbouring Mas Selamat, a prisoner of State. The three pleaded guilty to the charges and were convicted and sentenced on Nov 18, 2010.
For their actions, Nur Aini, Asmom and Aisah have been sentenced to 18 months, 12 months and 3 months of imprisonment, respectively. Mahadir, who had a lesser role in the matter, has been served a stern warning in lieu of prosecution.
Singaporeans will be understandably disappointed that Asmom and his family had helped Mas Selamat in his escape. Their actions are, however, not a reflection on the wider Malay-Muslim community who had disapproved of Mas Selamat’s deeds, and participated in the manhunt for him in 2008.
We should therefore not allow this episode to affect the trust and goodwill that has been built up over the years between our different communities. Instead, this episode should reinforce how important it is for every Singaporean to unite together and assist the security agencies to overcome the threat of terrorism from a small number of persons in our society. — Today
Gopalan, it would appear that the family needs help foremost now. Do reverse engineering by helping the family out of Singapore and then Mas Selamat.
Lobby the support of Islamic organisations in the Middle East.
One of your best post Mr Nair.
Thank you for making a case for this man which no one else would bother.
Renaldi
To Anonymous Nov 26, 0246,
You are not understanding what is being written. The case is not whether anyone else would or would not bother, it is about innocent until proven guilty, it is about the right to trial before punishment, it is about due process of law.
It is about the fundamentals of legal proceedings in any modern society.
You are an example of a Singaporean who Lee Kuan Yew has successfully kept in the dark as to his rights.
Chanced upon this site on a Google search, managed to read a couple of posts, and just wanted to leave a few comments.
First, a country's legal system is determined by the authorities in power - hence, it would not be fair to judge a country's legal system purely by comparing it to another country's, like America's for example which you might happen to hold highly. If you look at the system from a consequentialist point of view, the system has thus far served the country well.
Second, there are pros and cons in any system. In the posts I have read, the comments are heavily biased and emotionally charged. Much of it are opinions and most arguments are at best weak. By failing to provide a fair analysis and weighing both sides of issue, it severely undermines your credibility - at least to me.
I am Singaporean, and you may call me a brain-washed product of Singapore's system, kept in the dark as to my rights; maybe so, but I am satisfied with the stability and progress that have been achieved by our system thus far. It is not perfect, no system is, and there is probably no ONE perfect system.
To Anonymous Nov 26, 0833,
You are entitled to think I am baised and emotionally charged or whatever. Surely, that is your right.
But I cannot for the best of me see how any country can jail a man for decades without trial merely on accusations alone. That simply does not sound right, no matter which country in this modern world.
Keeping in mind that Singapore is a one party state where the people have no say in their laws because of rigged parlimentary elections.
Pardon me for asking but doesn't the US have a similar act to SG's ISA? You do bring up some valid points in some of your points, but honestly to say that the US doesn't practice this is quite absurd. Furthermore, there are certain sociological effects should this man be released, and later on commit terrorist acts. Mas Selamat is not a political rival or a threat to the Lees. So they can't obviously be doing this for kicks, they must have some sort of evidence which incriminates him, hence the use of the ISA. I think the gov is right, in some ways, for this kiasu-ness.
To Anonymous of Nov 30, 0805,
The answer to your question whether the US has a similar law to Singapore's ISA is no, it does not. And no, it is not absurd to say that the US doesn't practice what Singapore does. Whatever sociological effects that Mas Selamant has should have no bearing on his right to be free. I do not see the relevance to Mas Selamant being or not being Lee Kuan Yew's political rival on his right to be free. If they have some sort of evidence against him, he should be tried on that evidence, not detain him under the Interanl Security Act without trial.
I am sorry I cannot educate you on the law, you should have to do this for yourself. All I can say to you is, under the Constitution of Singapore, one has a right to due process, which means a right to a trial. The ISA which was introduced by the British was for a different purpose, and Lee Kuan Yew being the coward that he is, simply misuses it.
To Anonymous of Nov 30, 0805,
The answer to your question whether the US has a similar law to Singapore's ISA is no, it does not. And no, it is not absurd to say that the US doesn't practice what Singapore does. Whatever sociological effects that Mas Selamant has should have no bearing on his right to be free. I do not see the relevance to Mas Selamant being or not being Lee Kuan Yew's political rival on his right to be free. If they have some sort of evidence against him, he should be tried on that evidence, not detain him under the Interanl Security Act without trial.
I am sorry I cannot educate you on the law, you should have to do this for yourself. All I can say to you is, under the Constitution of Singapore, one has a right to due process, which means a right to a trial. The ISA which was introduced by the British was for a different purpose, and Lee Kuan Yew being the coward that he is, simply misuses it.
Gopalan, many Singaporeans tend to confuse Guantanamo detentions as being the same as ISA detentions. They think it is permissible for the US to imprison *US citizens* in Guantanamo-like prisons (which is actually illegal under US law)! Perhaps you should do a blog article explaining this point...would be an interesting read. Thanks.
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