reduced and recycled

Update: Things have gotten worse. No clear indication if he’s being held for offenses under the Official Secrets Act. But Nat’s still being held, and will continue to be held, for God knows how long, now. Follow the events here.

Update 2: Nathaniel Tan’s been remanded for four days. Brief details over at Jeff Ooi’s site here.

About the most frustrating thing to me, sitting here far away from what’s happening, is not knowing why Nathaniel Tan’s been detained. Is he being charged for something, is there any charge at all, or are the Police once again wielding the broad powers granted by the OSA at the behest of a higher up?

He’s being investigated by the Cyber Crimes division, get this, and being investigated for an Official Secrets Act offense. So it’s not a Penal Code issue, it’s an OSA issue. Or something like that. Or what the FUCK? The mind boggles. One trail leads to the next and the then it goes cold. I don’t know the “why” of it, and I doubt anyone knows at this point, but one thing everybody knows: he’s been incarcerated for no good reason, and it’s making a mockery of his fundamental rights.

The Police it seems can’t decide whether to hold him for a fairly non-existent comment on his posting about the spat between the IGP and Datuk Johari Baharum, so they say “he’s been detained for a possible Official Secrets Act offense” or some such trumped up nonsense. The Police were obviously casting about for a reason because I can’t see what the hell is so controversial about the post and the comments therein.

Nat wasn’t suggesting that either Datuk Johari or the IGP Tan Sir Musa were guilty of anything. He wasn’t even asserting anything about the the ACA probes/investigations per se. He was merely pointing out that resources could be better spent making people feel safer. That’s it! Making people feel safer! Now, the ridiculous thing is, if they did detain Nat for suggesting that the Police should spend more time reducing crime on the streets, are they sending the message that they:

1. Think they shouldn’t be making people feel safer; or
2. Think that public complaints are crimes?

If it ain’t any of the above, then what possible official secrets act offense did he commit?!.

(Correction: the offending post and comment is here. Which begs the question: what was it about the website accusing Datuk Johari of corruption that was secret? Eh? How does an unattributable accusation from an anonymous website prove that Nat was in possession of Official Secrets, eh? Does the Police action imply that the accusation had some basis on fact, or at the very least, these said “official secrets” that Nat was supposed to have possessed? So did this unattributable accusation posted as a comment in Nat’s blog have any truth to it?

What does the Police action MEAN?!)

I don’t get it. I have another theory, though today isn’t a day for theories. They don’t like what Nat is doing. They also don’t like what YOU are doing. They don’t like how the internet is getting out of hand and out of their control. When I say “they”, I mean the government. I mean Deputy Internal Ministers Datuk Johari Baharum. I mean him, PM Abdullah Badawi and his ilk. They don’t like the fact that opinion on the internet is ranging free and wild on online pastures.

They don’t like the fact that you and I - whether you’re politically inclined or not - can go on the internet, post your opinion, kopitiam talk, pointed arguments, etc. on a medium they can’t control, for everyone to see. They don’t like the fact that readers both locally and abroad are reading about a picture of Malaysia that doesn’t agree with Visit Malaysia 2007, with the image of a moderate Islamic country, with the image of a well-run government.

The government has finally woken up to the fact that they can’t control information in this day and age. Is Nat’s detention the first broadside from a frustrated, impotent government? You tell me. I won’t know until I’m sure Nat’s free today. In fact, I won’t know even then. Because these pigs are proving to us how they can, in the real world, pick you up from where you work, take you away and then disappear.

They are showing us how they can make you disappear in the real world.

They are trying to tell you: “yes, this could happen to YOU, too”.

But this isn’t how the real world in the 21st century actually works, is it?

No, they’re asking for a storm of attention, that’s what they’re asking for.

Some stuff you can actually do besides read blogs about this issue, borrowed from Elizabeth Wong’s blog:

There are some things one could do to help Nat.

Let the police know Nat has a lot of friends, fellow bloggers and supporters who will not take kindly to their kind of rubbish.

Be proactive by calling them, sending them faxes and SMSs. It can be a short letter, or an SMS, like “Bebaskan Nathaniel Tan - Jgn buli blogger”, or “Free Nathaniel Tan - Polis jgn diperalatkan politikus”.

You should also contact them to ask them what time exactly will they release Nat on Saturday (think positive!), or where and when will Nat be taken for his remand hearing?

Whatever suits your mood. The point is to flood their phones, mail boxes and fax machines, and to let them know that we are watching their every move, even if they go take a leak.

Here are key people:-

1. DSP Victor - Investigating Officer - 016 3043 669

2. ACP Tn Kamaruddin - Cyber-Crime Division - 019 6000 135

3. Tan Sri Musa Hassan
Inspector-General of Police
Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia
Bukit Aman
50560 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03 2262 6222
Fax: 03 2273 9602
Email: rmp@rmp.gov.my

Nat’s friends and colleagues don’t seem to be sleeping much throughout their incident. You should check out the following links for more updates and such:

Nat’s sister’s blog. Day two.
Bob K’s webby.
Elizabeth Wong’s webby.
Nik Nazmi’s webby.
Polytikus’ webby.

Free Nathaniel Tan NOW!!