Wife to seek freedom for victorious ISA detainee Manoharan

BERNAMA
KLANG, SUN

The wife of election victor M. Manoharan is to seek his immediate release from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

S. Pushpaneela said she hoped that DAP chairman and lawyer Karpal Singh would fight for the release of her husband.

Manoharan, 46, had won the Kota Alam Shah state seat in Selangor on a DAP ticket, defeating Ching Su Chen of the Barisan Nasional (BN) by 7,184 votes.

“Since my husband has won the Kota Alam Shah seat, I hope Karpal (Singh) will fight immediately for the release of my husband. I know it will not be an automatic release,” she told reporters here.

Manoharan, a lawyer, was detained last December for alleged involvement in the organising of illegal gatherings on Nov 25 last year and making seditious statements against the government.
He is the third ISA detainee to contest on a DAP ticket in a general election. Chan Kok Kit and Chian Heng Khai contested on a DAP ticket in 1978 in Sungai Besi (Selangor) and Batu Gajah (Perak), respectively, when they were under detention, and both won.

Pushpaneela said her husband would not get to know the election result immediately.

“There is not much communication between us. I will inform him personally (of the election result) when I visit him at the Kamunting detention camp tomorrow,” said the mother of four.

Pushpaneela said all her efforts during the 13-day election campaign had paid off.

“I woke up at 5am daily to make the necessary preparations for the election campaign. Believe me, being a woman it was not an easy task,” she said.