TERESA RELEASED! thank god!

first came to know of this via a comment in my blog at this post.

then i went to malaysiakini to read about it, and also to see postings from other blogs (under ‘top blogs’ and ‘malaysiakini in blogs)

second step was i went to project petaling street (PPS) to look for blogs posting about her release.

of course final step is i’m here… to made this post. i knew about this after my lunch time but since i’m at work, i can’t blog yet (unlike all those blogs i see on malaysiakini and PPS – envy them they can blog any time, thus they are up-to-date). was waiting for after 5.00pm so that i can then blog… so here i am now.

i’m so happy when i read that she had been released. this is the best news of the week. so very happy and overjoyed that all our prayers had been answered… but still of course not 100% answered as RPK and the other detainees are still in ISA. ISA is still there. at least for now, we rejoice in teresa’s release.

now, i will CnP (copy and paste) direct from malaysiakini the news about her release. later on i will blog again, when i get hold of her press conference news.

latest news said she is going to sue the government for wrongful detention under the ISA. good!! i hope she will sue the government right down to their pants!! indeed! her detention was very very wrong.
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Malaysiakini
Teresa Kok released
S Pathmawathy | Sep 19, 08 1:22pm

DAP Seputeh MP Teresa Kok was released unconditionally at 1pm today, after being held under the Internal Security Act for seven days.

Kok, 43, walked out from the Jalan Travers police station at 1.40pm, accompanied by her lawyer Sankara Nair and her personal aide, Mandy Ooi.

She was greeted by her visibly elated parents.

Kok was immediately hugged by her 71-year-old mother, Poon Seh Kwon, who gave her daughter a bunch of white and pink roses.

"I don’t know what I’ve got into… I don’t know what is the real reason (that) caused me to (be) put behind bars for one week," she told journalists as she left the police station.

Kok, who is also the Selangor state executive council member, expressed that she was still slightly shaken but glad that she was released.

"(There is) no reason at all to put me under ISA… What have I done? What have I said?" she asked.

"During the whole one week, they didn’t show any proof or evidence to show that I made statements that have caused racial and religious tension."

The parliamentarian said that she felt like "fool" when she was incarcerated not knowing the grounds for her arrest.

When asked the reason for her release, Kok said, "I don’t know… I don’t know why I was charged… Of course, they have to release me; they find no case against me."

Kok thanked all those who had campaigned for her release including those from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, such as "her friend" Zaid Ibrahim who had resigned as the de facto law minister following her arrest.

Deputy inspector-general of police Ismail Omar said that Kok was released after investigations showed that there was no reason to detain her any further.

Kok held a press conference two hours later at the DAP headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

‘Honey, I’m home; I’ve had a hard day’

Minutes after the IT-savvy and affable politician was released, she updated her social networking Facebook account.

At 1.35pm, she posted an entry in her Facebook saying, "Teresa sings ‘Honey, I’m home, I’ve had a hard day, pour me a cold one da da da…", which immediately attracted comments welcoming her release.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang also appeared to be surprised by Kok’s early release.

Lim wrote in his blog that he received a phone call with the caller identification ‘Teresa’ at 12.56pm while he was having lunch in Ipoh, Perak and he had wondered who was using the MP’s mobile phone.

"But it was her on the line and I wondered how she wangled the use of her phone while in detention. But no, she did no such improper thing. She told me that she was being released.

"Bravo. The irresistible pressures for her unjust and undemocratic detention had succeeded," wrote Lim, who is also the Ipoh Timor MP.

Last Friday, Kok was arrested under Section 73(1) of the ISA at 11.18pm, allegedly for sparking religious and racial tension ostensibly for her role in an Islamic matter.

She was arrested on the same day with controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and Sin Chew Daily journalist Tan Hoon Cheng, who was however released after 18 hours.

Raja Petra still under detention

Raja Petra, who has targeted the top government figures on his popular Malaysia Today website, however is still under detention.

Her release today came as a surprise as her parents who were allowed to visit her on Monday has said there was a notice to Kok which stated that she would be held under ISA for 28 days.

Kok was held under the ISA detention for allegedly causing tension and conflict among races.

The three-term MP has been in news in recent days – especially in Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia – after it was claimed that she had told mosque officials in Kota Damansara, Sri Serdang and Puchong Jaya to tone down the call to prayer.

Kok, who is also Kinrara state assemblyperson, has denied the allegations and one of the mosques, Masjid Kota Damansara, has clarified that a damaged amplifier has resulted in the calls to prayers to be made without the aid of a PA system.

Another mosque, Masjid Kinrara, has also denied that she was involved in a residents petition asking for the mosque to lower the volume of its loudspeakers during prayers.

Human rights group Suaram welcomed Kok’s release but called for those responsible for her arrest to be held accountable for abusing their power.

"We also call for the immediate release of Raja Petra and all other ISA detainees. We demand the draconian security law to be abolished," Suaram director Yap Swee Seng told AFP.

Watch the 3-min video of Kok outside police station