"They asked me to strip naked
in front of more than ten other male detainees"
This
is the story of one Nora, the reformasi protester who was forced to strip naked by the
Malaysian police. Note: Contents may not be suitable for some readers. [Source: http://freeanwar.com].
--------------------
"They
asked me to strip naked in front of more than ten other male detainees": Nora
[Photo can be viewed at http://www.freeanwar.com/nora.htm]
Norazimah
Mohd Nor, popularly known as Nora in REFORMASI circles, was amongst the first to be
arrested the day before the 5 November 2000 "Gathering of 100,000 Citizens: Restore
the People's Rights".
This is her story.
I arrived at the Jalan Kebun
gathering site at around lunchtime and started putting up my stall. Before I could
even get it completely set up the police came and told us to dismantle it again.
I did as they asked and went over to Johari's, the
landowner's house. In a short while the police, led by DSP Balwandi, came over to the
house and told us to leave the area. We were given ten minutes to do so.
Before
we could even stand up the police started arresting all of us. They never gave us ten
minutes.
We were taken to the Kelang police station. Around
2.00am, about 12 hours after we were arrested, they transferred us to the Jalan Kapar
police station.
At the Kapar police station I was put in a cell with more than
ten other male detainees. One lady police officer called Dayang Safinah then asked me to
strip. I took off all my clothes but left my underwear on.
Dayang then asked me
to take off my underwear as well as she wanted me stark naked. I protested as there were
more than ten other male detainees in the call but she insisted.
I had no choice
but to follow her orders. She then asked me to get on the floor, open my legs, and do
pump-ups.
Thankfully the other male detainees were kind enough to turn away.
Dayang however stared at me while I did the pump-ups. She seemed to enjoy watching me
move up and down completely naked.
I thought maybe she was a lesbian who enjoyed
this kind of thing and she looked very angry that the rest of the male detainees turned
away and would not look at me.
Dayang continued looking at me. She was
practically "glued" to my body and would not blink. She just stared right at
me and I was worried she might suddenly jump all over me or molest me. I was sure she
was getting an orgasm or getting turned on.
Dayang then suddenly rushed out of
the cell. I thought that maybe she was getting excited. I then stopped, got up, and put
my clothes back on.
For the next five days the police constantly interrogated me.
The police told me my children are going to a government school and that they can get
them thrown out of school. I started getting very worried for my children especially as
my husband was also under arrest. I did not know where my husband was and what had
happened to him.
The police also told me I am living in a government flat and
could get thrown out onto the streets. "Then where will your children
sleep?" they asked me.
The police said my husband and I will be in jail for
a long time and no one will take care of our children. They also said my children will
be blacklisted and they will never be able to have a secondary or university education.
I
started getting very worried. They were threatening my children's future and I could not
do anything about it.
The police asked me why I did not want to support UMNO.
"If you support UMNO you will be rich," they said. "UMNO will give you a
lot of money. All those who work for UMNO are well rewarded."
I replied I
don't take bribes and they said it is not a bribe, it is a reward for supporting UMNO.
They told me it is better than sleeping on the streets or my children getting thrown out
of school.
This made me so worried that I started asking myself whether I had
made a mistake. They were playing with my mind. The worst was on Thursday, the day
before my release. This was when they interrogated me the longest. It went on for hours.
Mostly it was to threaten my children.
On Friday we were all released but they
refused to give me back my car, cell phone, wallet, money, identity card and other
personal items that they confiscated. They also confiscated all my tapes and VCDs which
cost me more than 2,000 Ringgit. For the last few days I have been trying to see the
police to get back all my property but the person in charge will not see me.
END.
