11 Days in Solitary Confinement, Maria Chin Detained under SOSMA
In 2016, Maria Chin Abdullah was detained under the Security Offences (Special Measure) Act 2012 (SOSMA) due to Bersih 5.0 involvement at that time.
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Bersih, founded in 2006 is a Malaysian anti-corruption movement that consists of a coalition of NGOs advocating for reforms of the electoral system in Malaysia to ensure free and fair elections.
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Maria Chin was the former chairperson of Bersih and a person of interest that allegedly threatened the harmony of the government.
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This is Maria Chin Abdullah's story of being arrested due to political belief as told to the team.
Source: KY Tan
11 Days of Detention under SOSMA
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Maria Chin Abdullah was detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 or SOSMA where she was held for 11 days without the presence of her legal counsels. She was charged under two-acts; Section 124C of the Penal Code which was detrimental to parliamentary democracy alongside SOSMA.
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She believes the reason behind the arrest was to instil fear in the Bersih protesters - thinking by arresting her, the rally will eventually stop. However, more than 10,000 protesters took part in Bersih 5.0 on November 18, 2016.
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When she was detained, 14 other activists who were helping her organised the Bersih 5.0 demonstration were also arrested but it was not under SOSMA but the penal code that said attempting to create a riot.
Source: Unsplash
On Friday, November 18, Maria Chin had to stay for one night at Kuala Lumpur Central Lockup, Jinjang before she was brought to the SOSMA detention centre. Then Sunday, she was brought to Dang Wangi to meet her lawyer and family before her interrogation began.
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As told by Maria Chin, she was held in solitary confinement with only a hard slab of cement block with no pillows and blanket to keep her warm. The toilet in the cell was open with a low barricade which people could see if the shutter of the door was exposed. It was completely sealed without windows and only fluorescent light could shine through the cell.
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The only time she could tell the time when they gave Maria Chin a chance to perform her daily prayers.
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On Monday, the interrogation of Maria Chin started and she was introduced to 12 police officers in the room with two or three heads of police. Throughout the whole interrogation, it was mainly four of them taking turns to interrogate her with one lady officer accompanying her.
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Why SOSMA is a draconian law according to Maria Chin is because you will lose all of your rights; rights to trial, rights to have a lawyer, rights to see anybody and it was all stripped apart.
Maria Chin also recalled, once she stepped out of the cell, she was completely blindfolded walking to the interrogation centre – she can hear sounds but she did not know where she was.
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