The armed revolution that did not take off

 

Ezam and Lokman have never denied the allegation of an armed revolution involving guns, bombs, grenade launchers, Molotov cocktails, etc. When I confronted Ezam he just said that Lokman sold him out. Lokman, on the other hand, said that Ezam was going to be sent to Kamunting anyway so he thought that if he fingered Ezam he might be freed.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It was probably the third week or so of my detention. When under detention, locked up in a cement box with absolutely no contact with the outside world or access to any form of information, we tend to lose track of time. But it must have been roughly around the end of April 2001 when I was finally allowed to meet my wife (or it could have been early May).

The Special Branch is not always so generous with family visits. I was told I was the first of the ten of us under detention allowed this family visit. And that, too, because they wanted to bribe me. And the bribe offered to me to make me ‘cooperate’ was permission to meet my wife after weeks of solitary confinement.

You see, Dr Vasantha Ponnniah had told them that unless I start eating and drinking they might have a serious problem on their hands. My blood sugar was hovering around 2.8-3.0 and if it drops to 2.5 or less I may go into a coma. Well, at least that was what Dr Vasantha told me when she begged me to allow her to put me on a drip, and which I refused. I wanted to punish them so I was throwing a tantrum and was making life difficult for them. I wanted to show them what a royal pain in the arse I could be, pun intended.

So they said if I agreed to eat and drink I would be allowed to meet my wife. But that can only happen when I am strong again. So I ended my hunger strike and the next day my wife was brought in to meet me.

The first thing my wife asked me was whether I knew what the allegations against me were. I replied that they have been asking me all sorts of questions the whole day long, every day since I was detained, but I really do not know what they are looking for. The questions seemed to cover every topic under the sun but I had no idea what they were fishing for.

“They said you are involved with a plot to bring in guns, bombs, grenade launchers and Molotov cocktails,” my wife told me. “It’s on TV and in all the newspapers. They said you are part of a conspiracy to bring down the government through an armed revolution.” My wife wanted to know whether this was true.

I was flabbergasted. I, of course, denied the allegation. “I thought so, too,” my wife replied. “But that is what they are accusing you off and they can hang you for that,” said my wife.

We were only allowed an hour after which I was brought back to the detention centre. “Did your wife tell you what you are alleged to have done?” the Special Branch officers asked me. They suspected that my wife would have told me what was all over the news. I confirmed that she had.

The interrogation then moved to this issue. They wanted to know how many meetings I had attended. I did not know what they were talking about and when they reminded me about that meeting in Ampang conducted by Tian Chua where certain things were discussed my blood ran cold. They then told me who were in the meeting and who said what. 

I realised that they knew everything, in great detail, so there was no longer any use in denying it. I confessed that I was at the meeting but denied any involvement with a conspiracy to start an armed revolution or to brings in guns, bombs, grenade launchers, Molotov cocktails or whatever. That was never discussed at all.

“Maybe not at the first meeting,” they replied, “but at the subsequent meetings this certainly was discussed.”

“What subsequent meetings? I attended only one meeting.”

“There was more than one meeting!” they shouted at me. “There were more than ten meetings. How many meetings altogether were there?” they asked me.

“I only attended one meeting,” I replied. “I do not know of any more meetings after that.”

They then gave me the details of the other meetings -- what dates they were held, where they were held, and who said what. I denied all knowledge of those meetings and insisted that I did not attend them. The officer who had been shouting at me opened a file, read something in it, and smiled.

“Yes, you are right,” he said, “you only attended the first meeting.”

“Why did you not attend the other meetings,” he asked me.

“I was not invited to the other meetings,” I replied.

“Oh, they do not trust you is it? That’s why they did not invite you to the other meetings?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “But for sure I only attended one meeting and not more than that.”

“Okay, what do you know of the plan to start an armed revolution?” they asked me. “You were planning to bring in guns, bombs, grenade launchers and so on. You also planned to bring in silat fighters from Indonesia to beat up the police officers during demonstrations.”

I again denied all those allegations and said I neither know about it nor am I involved in such a plot.

“Come on, you must know about it,” they said. “Ezam sent Lokman to Indonesia to meet the brother of the Indonesian President and the President told Dr Mahathir about it. We know everything. Lokman has already confessed. He has implicated Ezam as the leader of the plot.”

I found out from Lokman later that he had indeed confessed to this and that he had also fingered Ezam as the leader. “Is it true?” I asked Lokman, and he confirmed that it was. There was indeed such a plan.

“But why did you implicate Ezam?” I asked him. Lokman then told me that they had told him they were only after Ezam, not him, and that if he confirms what they already know anyway they would release him. After all, their target is Ezam.

Lokman then confessed and fingered Ezam as the ringleader. However, they did not release him like they promised. He, Ezam, and four others, were all packed off to Kamunting for two years and thereafter were dubbed ‘The Reformasi 6”.

Invariably, Ezam was very sore with Lokman and soon after they were released they went into conflict. The crisis between Ezam and Lokman became so serious that Lokman soon after that left PKR and joined Umno. The funny thing is, Ezam also left PKR to join Umno and now both of them are buddies again, in Umno.

Ezam and Lokman have never denied the allegation of an armed revolution involving guns, bombs, grenade launchers, Molotov cocktails, etc. When I confronted Ezam he just said that Lokman sold him out. Lokman, on the other hand, said that Ezam was going to be sent to Kamunting anyway so he thought that if he fingered Ezam he might be freed.

I then asked someone high up in the party and he confirmed that the Indonesian President had sold them out by telling Dr Mahathir about it. It seems they had solicited the help of the President’s brother and that was how the whole story surfaced.

Yes, there was such a plan back in 2001 to take street demonstrations to a new level. And those who were implicated were sent to Kamunting. Those of us who were not were freed. But the ringleaders, Ezam and Lokman, are now in Umno. I suppose that is why they know so much about the plan to start an armed revolution. They were heading the group that was planning this. Of course, some of them such as Tian Chua are still in PKR. And that is why Tian Chua’s ex-comrades like Ezam and Lokman know so much. They were once all in the same team and spent two years sleeping in the same block in Kamunting.

Hence, when these Umno people such as Ezam and Lokman talk about this matter I am inclined to believe it. They were the ones who had planned it.

Would Ezam and Lokman like to comment on this? Or are they worried that Umno might whack them if they do. Yes, sometimes there is more than meets the eye and things are not always what they seem to be.