Nat: Spirited away ... ended up in orange T-shirt, police cell

Dashken · Jul 16, 2007

Scary shyt... Malaysia oh Malaysia... why are you killing yourself?

In the free land of Malaysia, the whereabout of Nathaniel Tan, 27, could not be accounted for for almost six hours after he was spirit away by three plainclothes police officers around 4.45pm, July 13.

Within the span of time, there were reports that the policemen had asked that Nat bring his notebook computer with him before was taken away. The police had also earlier gone to Tan's house to seize his desktop computer, Malaysiakini reported.

According to Malaysiakini which quoted witnesses, the policemen did not provide any reasons as to why Nat -- was asked to go with them.

The witness said the policemen entered Nat's office in Phileo Damansara and wanted him to follow them to the Bukit Aman police headquarters for questioning on "matters relating to certain postings on the Internet".

Nat's employers and lawyers were alerted, and police station hopping round was mounted to look for Nat, and to ensure his wellbeing as Nat's health has not been good lately.

Lawyer Latheefa Koya (Lat) told malaysiakini that, according to a special branch officer known only as inspector William, there were no records of Nat being brought to Bukit Aman, Malaysia's national police headquaters.

She said her team had also checked with Malaysian Control Centre (MCC), which is under the Bukit Aman. but to no avail. "Instead, they advised us to make a police report," she said.

At 10pm, close to six hours after Nat's disappearance, the police finally confirmed that he was indeed being held at Bukit Aman, according to an update on Malaysiakini.

However, by 11.25pm. Tan's family members confirmed that Nat was actually being held at the Dang Wangi police station.

Nat was seen in the orange prison shirt. But he appeared in high spirit.

This is the latest update on Malaysiakini :

According to the police, Tan will be held for 24 hours by the Cyber Crime Unit in Jalan Dato Onn to facilitate investigation under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

Tan was later transferred to Kuala Lumpur's Dang Wangi police station and is expected to be brought before a magistrate for further remand at 4.30pm tomorrow.

There was obvious disarray in the scheme of work to nab Nat, weaving from one law to another. Quote from Elizabeth Wong, a human rights advocate:

In the meantime, Lat had received information that the Investigating Officer is DSP Victor (016 304 4669). When she finally got through to him, we found out he had just gotten off the plane from Sydney. Victor said, they were investigating under the Penal Code.

Lat then found out another fella from the Cyber-crime Division, Bukit Aman, ACP Tn Mohd Kamaruddin (019 6000 135), was in charge. At 10 pm, we were informed that they were holding him after all, and that he was being investigated under the Officials Secrets Act. [...]

The police at the (Dang Wangi police) station said, Section 420 of the Penal Code. Yep, another change.

Elizabeth also recorded that Nat was denied access to his legal counsel. Neither was he fed a single grain of rice since his arrest earlier in the day.

By midnight, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim issued a statement as follows:

Statement on the detention of
secretary to the President of the Foundation for the Future
July 13, 2007
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Today, Nathaniel Tan, who is my secretary as Chairman of the Foundation for the Future, was detained by three plain-clothes individuals. The officers did not identify themselves or their designation but merely mentioned that they were part of the Special Branch and requested Nathaniel to follow them and bring along his laptop.

I strongly condemn the detention of Nathaniel by the Malaysian police. Nathaniel, 27, a graduate of Harvard and resident of Kuala Lumpur, has been actively involved in humanitarian and volunteer efforts in Aceh, Indonesia and Sierra Leone as well as with human rights groups in Malaysia.

I want the Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan to take this matter to his immediate attention and confirm where and on what grounds is Nathaniel being detained. I request that his lawyers and family members obtain immediate access to Nathaniel to ensure his well-being and safety.

ANWAR IBRAHIM
Chairman
Foundation for the Future

For those uninitiated, Anwar is world renowned for being the victim of the 'Black Eye' in police hands.

It was only a day before when Nobel Peace Price laureate Kofi Annan reminded Malaysia, a small country that aspired to become a major global player, that it has to subscribe to the doctrine of 'Responsibility to Protect'.

Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller poem

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

From : http://www.jeffooi.com/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The case of Nat Tan makes it clear how the establishment wants to make someone as an example for those who dare to make a difference, to tell us to back off.

Malaysians who dream of a better Malaysia, I challenge you to stand up and make a difference anyway.

Of course, I sound a bit hyperbolic, so let me backtrack a little. Nat started a little company, JCB Networks (also called Just Networks informally), which specialises in communications. Nat himself is an aide to Tian Chua, the Information Chief of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (the People's Justice Party, which holds only one Parliamentary seat, despite winning over 10% of the popular vote in the last election thanks to gerrymandering).

Some of the guys at the office are PKR honchos; but probably an equal number are politically neutral. Myself and the guy who was at the office when Nat got hauled away have made it clear to Nat repeatedly that we do not want to be involved in partisan politics.

We do work on some politically-related stuff — PKR is Just Networks' anchor client after all — but our work has also focused on the broader problems with the Malaysian nation. We have worked on a bulletin site for non-governmental organisations, and have a number of projects in the pipeline which bear little relation to PKR. Only today I helped set up a website for a Malaysian NGO with (as far as I know) no ties to PKR.

Honestly, do you want to know why the police took Nathaniel Tan in, and held him incommunicado while refusing to disclose his whereabouts or whether they even arrested him? Do you want to know why there is a chance this Harvard graduate in his mid-20s will be tortured by the Royal Malaysian Police?

It is because this Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt is exactly what the government wants to spread. They have no good reason to take Nat in.

Nat is not a big fish. In local political parlance, he is a machai , a small fry. He has no information worth being interrogated for down at the federal police headquarters, and he is of little political value to anyone.

This is exactly why the Malaysian government wants to take him in. They want to send a message to the people who want to and can make a difference in our country and our society — BACK OFF.

The message is, "This could be you!" It seems to be seeping in, because despite the insistence of solidarity amongst those already in the anti-establishment, potential recruits for the cause of change will be deterred by this detention.

From: http://www.infernalramblings.com/articles/Malaysian_Politics/541/
Click to expand...

Adrian Wong · Jul 16, 2007

Hey, you are a little late. I posted it here already - http://forums.techarp.com/showthread.php?p=310140#post310140

I wonder what's next? Arrest all opposition leaders? Impose martial law? Hold elections with only ONE party present?

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Nat: Spirited away ... ended up in orange T-shirt, police cell

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Nat: Spirited away ... ended up in orange T-shirt, police cell

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