Focus Focus: Merdeka For All Or None

On 13 July 2007, Nathaniel Tan, an old friend from high school was arrested at approximately 4.30pm in his office in Phileo Damansara. Three plainclothes policemen took him away purportedly to “talk about the Internet.” After bundling him up, they drove to his home in Taman Tun to retrieve materials related to the subject matter of their “talk about the Internet.”

And then, silence.

For the next six hours, no one knew where Nat was, or what had become of him.

Nat's parents were only informed of his arrest a couple of hours after the incident took place. The reason he was held, and even the location, was not disclosed. Only after much running around, from one KL police station to another, did his parents, friends, and supporters ascertained his whereabouts. He had been remanded at the Tun HS Lee police station, located next to Stadium Merdeka.

At approximately 11.45pm, the Investigating Officer (IO) in charge of the case met with Nat's parents, girlfriend, and legal counsel, and allowed a few of them to meet him. Later, we were informed that he was being detained to assist in investigations surrounding a highly visible public figure and the monetary scandal surrounding said public figure.

Apparently, Nat—who runs bangkit.net and jelas.info, as well as managing the website of a political party whose leader became the center of public attention when he became Malaysia's first recepient of a black eye while detained—had been taken in for a seditious comment left on his blog regarding aforementioned public figure.

At the time I am writing this, which is 14 July, Nat's detention has been prolonged by four days (the police can only legally detain an individual for 24 hours, after which they have to either release you or present you before a court of law). Clearly, someone somewhere is violating Nat’s rights as a citizen of our supposedly fair country.

Now, the point of this story is not to make a martyr out of Nat. At best, this article would probably make Nat—a Harvard graduate in “Peace and Conflict Studies”—snigger. The significance of Nat’s arrest is that he’s the first blogger to have been detained in Malaysia for: a comment left on his blog.

More ominous than it being a Malaysian first (will it appear in Malaysia’s Book Of Records, I wonder?) is the fact that the people who took Nat away did not feel they have to explain their actions to anyone, not to his parents, not to his lawyers, not even to Nat himself (though not until much later). One has to sit up and wonder, after 50 fucking years of Independence, is such clandestine whisking away of people supposed to be a common feature in our country? What should members of the public know about their rights in situations like this? What is our right to legal recourse, our right to keep silent under police custody, our right to be brought before a court of law and claim fair trial?

I was talking to a friend about this, and she said that Nat is actually quite lucky. He had witnesses who saw him being taken away, friends who pressured the system to divulge Nat's exact whereabouts, and friends who quickly informed his lawyers that he was being whisked to the magistrate's court without legal representation. But what about other Malaysians who aren’t as privileged? Does that mean the system of law and order in Malaysia fairs unequally for everyone? Those who have friends in certain places can be rescued, but those who have not must submit themselves to authorities whose powers remain unchecked. I guess Nat is lucky, in a good way.

With the general elections coming up, perhaps it’s not unwarranted to begin asking these questions, and to point them specifically at those who will be contesting for seats.

I doubt this exercise would be an affront to those in power (and those who want to maintain their seats of power); I mean, this is the Feel Good Year, right? With RM46 billion in Petronas' coffers, a 35 to 42 percent increase in salaries for civil servants and the police, and a record turnout of visitors in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007, one wonders what else should further gild such an auspicious year? Perhaps justice for all the other Nats who weren’t so lucky to have witnesses on their side?

Selamat Hari Merdeka, Malaysia. You know we love you.

TEXT FAHMI FADZIL