SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a statement in response to a joint statement by 16 ex-ISA detainees on September 19.
The ex-detainees had taken issue with the length of detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and also with the ISA Advisory Board process.
The MHA on Friday said these 16 ex-detainees were not detained for their political beliefs, but because they had involved themselves in subversive activities which posed a threat to national security.
Nine were actively involved in Communist United Front (CUF) activities in support of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), which was committed to the violent overthrow of the constitutionally-elected governments in Singapore and Malaysia.
They infiltrated legally-established organisations like trade unions and student associations, and instigated illegal strikes and demonstrations to cause mayhem and civil strife to complement the CPM's armed revolution.
In 1974, one of them provided medical assistance to a CPM saboteur who was hiding in Malaysia. Link
