Mystery of the detained airman

An air force wife makes a police report about her husband’s mysterious arrest and the harassment of her family

LABUAN: The RMAF has detained a flight sergeant for mysterious reasons and has been subjecting his family to harassment, according to a police report that his wife lodged here early last week.

Norisah Ismail told FMT that two lieutenant colonels “barged” into her flat on Sept 11 without a search warrant, fired off confusing questions at her and warned her “not to behave” like PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

She said they arrested her husband, Zulkifli Mohammad, without giving any reason, but took him home briefly on Sept 12 for him to collect his bank books, and afterwards flew him to the RMAF holding centre at either Subang or Sungai Besi.

However, a week after the police report was lodged, Zulkifli was flown back to Labuan to be detained there, she added.

Without giving details, she said air force personnel continued to harass her and her household, which includes her aging mother and two toddlers.

One reliable source told FMT that the police had written to the magistrate’s court in Labuan, informing it of a report about “an offence where usually no arrests are made”. The letter reportedly said the complainant would be “advised to take the matter to court herself for further action”.

“My family is particularly sore with the two senior air force personnel, both lieutenant colonels, who barged into our house,” Norisah said.

The two challenged her to engage legal help “if I dared”, she added.

She said she was praying that her police report would guarantee her safety and that of her family in Labuan and elsewhere.

Lawyers told FMT that Norisah could take the matter to court by way of a habeas corpus application, but they said not many lawyers in the country were well-versed in military law.

Norisah said her greatest fear was that Zulkifli would be tortured for a statement.