Finally getting to meet lawyers. Gaining some hope in detention.
Article #21
Even though I had met with the AB, I was still adamant about meeting with a lawyer. I had two reasons for wanting a lawyer.
The most important reason was to get independent advice. Up till then, everything I knew was what the ISD officers told me. Whether it was about being able to speak the truth during mitigation, that I would be released if I followed what they told me to do, the threats on my wife and children or the processes of detention and release, I was totally dependent on my captors.
The other reason was to have a witness. I did not know if I would ever be released. And because I was not allowed to speak openly with my family and did not have anyone else to communicate with, having a lawyer would at least mean someone would know what happened to me.
I was also keen to make sure that the ISD did not continue to abuse their power, whether on me or someone else. One way to help end their corruption was to ensure public accountability in the way they operate. Having lawyers for everyone arrested under the ISA would help minimise if not end the corruption.
Tim and Chang kept dissuading me from it. “You are personable, the AB will like you. You don’t need a lawyer” Tim tried to coax me.
They insisted that if I engaged a lawyer and my case received publicity, it would jeopardise my release. Chang held out the carrot of an early release. I may not have to serve the full two years. I may be released earlier if I followed their instructions.
But if my case generated publicity, then they could not release me. It would make things difficult.
The challenge was to insist on meeting with a lawyer while not making it a threat to the ISD’s absolute power. I had to request to meet with a lawyer while making it look as though I was not sure about it. I had to phrase my insistence as questions rather than statements.
The discussion went on for weeks until I finally insisted that I wanted the lawyer, against their demands. “I think, I should meet with a lawyer, don’t I? I don’t know what is going on.”
Only then was my family allowed to arrange one for me. It would have been difficult to ask my family to get a lawyer without the officers’ indulgence. If they were not happy with anything I said to my family, I would be in trouble.
A couple of months after I was arrested, I asked my mother to remove me from the family’s WhatsApp group. The group name was “KSK”, signifying “Kita sayang kita” (We love us) that my mother, brother and I said to each other.
Ong interrogated me after my mother’s visit.
“You said KSK what is that? What did it mean?” he demanded.
I was made to explain what it meant, why I asked to be removed, what my intentions were. The officers regularly asked me to explain whatever I said to my family. Everything was fair game for them to know more.
A few weeks before meeting with the lawyers, I was given one comic book to read a week. The officers would pick out a book and had it delivered to my cell. Getting the comic book was a massive upgrade in getting at least some mental stimulation. At least, I could read words and look at the drawings. Instead of spending my time staring at the walls or talking to myself.
The week that I met with the lawyers, the ISD gave me 3 comic books to read. Immediately after the meeting, it went back to 1 comic book.
My mother told me that Shireen had organised with M Ravi to represent me. However, right before the meeting, I learned that Ravi’s licence may be suspended, and Eugene Thuraisingam had taken over my case.
I was not allowed to request the meeting. The lawyer had to write in to the ISD and wait to be given a date to meet with me. It was up to the ISD’s discretion.
When I was brought to the family visit room to meet with Eugene and his associate Suang Widjaya, it became apparent that lawyers’ visits at ISD detention was not normal. There were conflicting information, and the Gurkha officers did not know what to do. When I was brought to the room, I asked the ISD officer that accompanied me how much time I had to meet with the lawyers.
“As much time as you want. It depends on your lawyer.”
The Gurkha officers were not sure what they were supposed to do. I told them that I was meeting with my lawyers and that there would be no ISD officers in the room. It was protocol for case officers to attend every family visit. In fact, if my family had arrived at the detention centre and an ISD case officer was not present in the family visit room, my family would not be allowed to meet me until the case officer arrived.
The family visit room would remain closed and an ISD prison officer would periodically check if a case officer had arrived on my side of the visit room.
I told the Gurkha officers that they should not wait for the case officers to arrive and that they should not be in the room. They were confused.
They had to keep calling their command centre to get instructions whether I was allowed to meet with my lawyers without case officers present and if they were supposed to leave. That confusion happened several times in the first couple of years. Some of the Gurkha officers would remain in the room while I discussed my case before leaving a few minutes later.
I asked Eugene, how long we could discuss my case on that first meeting. Like the ISD officer, he said that he could be there as long as I needed. ISD did not set any time limit. I took time to discuss my case.
I told them about the threats to my family and how I was forced to make false confessions. However, in the middle of our discussions, the door was opened, and we were told that time was up. We did not know that we were given only 30 minutes. I had to rush through the rest of what I needed to discuss with them.
Meeting with Eugene and Suang lifted my spirits. Eugene said that there was nothing he could do about my detention as it stood. I was advised to accept the detention and to only seek recourse if I was given an extension. They said they would try get me better conditions and books.
The lack of options did not bother me. I had accepted that the ISD had absolute power and there was nothing I or anyone else could do to hasten my release. But being able to share with Eugene and Suang and get independent advice gave me some hope.
Continued in the next article.