by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, 7th February, 1992:
Call on Home Ministry not to use the Internal Security Act to detain Anderson Mutang Urud of Sarawak Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance (SIPA) but to charge him in a court of law if he had committed any offences against the laws of the country
DAP calls on the Home Ministry to confirm whether Anderson Mutang Urud of Sarawak Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance (SIPA) had been detained under the Internal Security Act for opposing deforestation in Sarawak.
The Dap has been informed that Anedrson Mutang Urud was arrested in Miri, Sarawak before midnight on Wednesday, 5th February 1992 and has been held incommunicado.
Anderson is a Kelabit and a graduate of the Institut Teknologi Malaysia. He is involved in the struggle of indigenous communities in Sarawak for land rights and against logging. He joined SIPA which was formed early last year to operate an information and research centre promoting sustainable land use, to work with indigenous communities affected by logging, to liaise between organisations and people interested in alternative development and agriculture, and to promote the trade of local indigenous craft.
Anderson took part in a ‘World Tour’ in 1990 to highlight the deforestation, the problem of land rights and the resistance of the local communities in Sarawak.
DAP urges the Government not to use the Internal Security Act to detain Anderson, but to charge Anderson in a court of law if he had committed any offences so that he could defend himself in an open trial.