Judicial Review of Preventive Detention under the Internal Security Act - A Summary of Developments
![handle is hein.journals/singlrev10 and id is 73 raw text is: Judicial Review of Preventive Detention under
the Internal Security Act - A Summary of
Developments
I. INTRODUCTION
IN May 1987, sixteen people were arrested under the Internal Security
Act (ISA). A month later, another six were arrested. They were a
group comprising mainly young professionals and graduates, including
a lawyer who was a member of the Council of the Law Society and
two full-time helpers of the Young Christian Workers' Movement who
were law graduates. They were said to be Marxists who wanted to
establish a Marxist state in Singapore and were conspiring to subvert
and destabilize the country for that purpose. Fifteen of them were
served with detention orders. The remaining seven, four from the first
group arrested and three from the second, were released in June and
July respectively.' In September, nine of those still detained were
freed. By December, all but one of the detainees were released.'
Their detention orders were suspended as the government was
satisfied that they were 'unlikely to resume subversive activities and no
longer posed a security threat'.
In April 1988, eight of those released between June and December
1987 were re-arrested because they had issued ajoint press statement
to 'clear their names' and to deny that they were ever involved in a
Marxist conspiracy.4 The suspension of their detention orders was
revoked. Four of those who were re-arrested applied to the High
Court for writs of habeas corpus.' Their applications were dismissed
1 See The Sunday Times, 21 June 1987, p 1.
2 See The Sunday Times, 21 June 1997, p 1 and 20 July 1987, p 1.
3 See The Sunday Times, 13 Sept 1987, p 1 and 27 Sept 1987, p 1, and The Straits
Times, 21 Dee 1987, p 1.
4 See The Straits Times, 20 Apr 1987, p 1.
5 See Kevin De Souza v The Minister ofHome Affairs & Ors [1988] 2 MLJ 493 and
Teo Soh Lung v The Minister of Home Affairs & Ors [1988] 3 MU 241.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/singlrev10&div=8&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Judicial Review of Preventive Detention under the Internal Security Act - A Summary of Developments
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