A total of 33 families in Sungai Petani, Kedah, were left in the lurch after police arrested their sole breadwinners under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) in 2020.
Over two years later, the men aged 22 to 60 are still in remand waiting for their court hearing, after being subsequently charged under the Penal Code.
One of the detainee’s wife was pregnant when he was arrested, so he has not had a chance to meet his child.
The families said police kept them in the dark for more than two days after the arrest in September 2020, before informing them that the detainees were being held at the Pendang police headquarters pending investigations.
They said police initially told the families that the detainees were picked up as suspects for involvement in murder, secret societies, and drug trafficking.
However, each time they met with police they were told different reasons for their loved one’s arrest before finally being told the men were detained under Sosma, the relatives added.
The detainees’ spouses and elderly parents have tried to make weekly trips to Alor Setar prison where they are being held, with some forced to borrow money to do so.
As such, the families are seeking for the detainees to be released unconditionally, when they attend their hearing tomorrow (Dec 18).
The 33 detainees were picked up between Sept 20 and Sept 26, 2020, and were later charged under Section 130v (1) of the Penal Code for being members of an organised crime group - a charge which carries a maximum imprisonment of 20 years.
RSN Rayer, counsel for 18 of the detainees, has made representations to the Attorney-General’s Chambers to consider an alternative charge of Section 43 of the Societies Act 1966, which carries a maximum of three years' jail, RM5,000 fine or both.
This was after 10 former members of the Kabali Gang were sentenced to 18 months in jail, after pleading guilty to an alternative charge of being members of an unlawful society, in Seremban last week. They had been in remand since 2019.
Earlier, Malaysiakini reported Sosma detainees in Kajang Prison, who were subsequently charged under the Penal Code, have been remanded since June while awaiting trial. Some have trial dates set in 2024.
The Anwar Ibrahim administration is under pressure from human rights groups to review Sosma, which they say is draconian and allows for lengthy and arbitrary detention without trial.
They also called for a review of the law to allow bail, so detainees do not languish for years in prison without being convicted.
Children growing up without father
S Sanggitha, 34, from Taman Kelisa in Sungai Petani said police arrested her husband R Nanda Kumar, 38, on Sept 25, 2020, and no reasons were given for his detention.
She said her husband, who was a chicken farm business owner, had no criminal record and it was incredulous to say he was a gang member while he was serving as a police volunteer reserve.
“My husband was taken away when I was pregnant and we now have a two-year-old son he has never met.
“I pray to God for my husband to return home for the sake of my son. It is hard to raise a baby without the help of his father,” she said, adding that her ageing parents-in-law are aggrieved over their only son’s detention.
When police first arrested him, she was told he was a murder suspect but that he would be released after 28 days - the period in which detention without trial is allowed under Sosma.
“Now, 27 months have passed and there is no solution to the problems. We beg the authorities and the government to show mercy and release my husband,” Sanggitha pleaded.
She said she had stopped taking her parents-in-law to the prison in Alor Setar as both of them found it difficult to walk to the prison complex.
Sanggitha said the authorities had also seized jewellery and cash from the family since Nanda’s arrest, as they claimed it was obtained through unlawful funds.
However, these were returned after it was established that the items were bought using legitimate means.
Another detainee, P Puganeswaran, 40, was operating a car wash outlet and scrap metal shop when he was taken away, his wife who only wants to be known as Ananya told Malaysiakini.
The couple has three children aged 15, 12, and nine, and Ananya has struggled to make ends meet after her husband was arrested.
“I have outstanding utility bills to settle, food, groceries, and payment for the children’s school projects. I am really in difficulty.
“Sometimes it is very frustrating because I don’t know what to do. It is difficult without my husband.
“We are praying to God to release my husband. Nothing is impossible if it's God’s will,” the 36-year-old said.
Husband detained two weeks after marriage
R Divani, 24, from Kampung Rusa in Sungai Petani said her husband, J Thanes, 24, was detained two weeks after they registered their marriage in September 2020.
He was detained with his 22-year-old brother J Sharwin.
Police told her the duo were arrested in connection with a murder case in Amanjaya, but they later revised this to say they had links to secret societies and drug trafficking, and were detained under Sosma.
“I feel lonely after the police took him. I now have the responsibility to take care of my old parents-in-law and I do take both of them with me when I visit my husband in prison weekly,” she said teary-eyed.
“We order food for him from the canteen as the food served in prison is tasteless.”
She said the family borrows money to pay for expenses for the trip to Alor Setar, but always pays for whatever he needs in prison, including toiletries.
The 33 detainees are:
G Thiyagu, 24
T Sundaramurthi, 28
T Krishnan, 26
G Thanarajoo, 29
V Ravichandran, 31
V Yanasegar, 22
R Shargunan, 24
Paramasivan, 38 (full name not available)
Muhammad Jeeva Sembu, 41
Lee Kum Chean, 35
P Gengatharan, 32
K Sri Pugalenthi, 40
K Kesavan, 36
P Sritharan, 38
S Hari Devan, 29
P Yokendran Kumar, 26
R Muniandi, 30
M Ponggiswaran, 33
T Vivegananth (age unavailable)
B Chandran, 33
R Nanda Kumar, 38
K Muthusamy, 60
R Thiagarajan, 38
J Thanes, 24
G Rames, 33
P Puganeswaran, 40
J Sharwin, 22
R Kamaleswaran (age unavailable)
L Mahendrakumar, 23
K Punithan, 42
Lu Choon Chuan, 39
R Ramesh (age unavailable)
Chan Jit Li (age unavailable)
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