BREAKING his silence over his role as prime minister in Ops Lalang 30 years ago, Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said he regrets that detainees were tortured and he accepts blame, but maintains that the detentions without trial were not his decision.

“I am now told that detainees were tortured. I regret that the detainees in Ops Lalang were tortured. This is against the law.

“I accept the blame even though the detentions were not my decision,” the prime minister who led Malaysia for 22 years said in a blog post.

The sweep of 106 opposition politicians, activists, intellectuals and trade unionists on the grounds of impending civil unrest in October 1987 also saw the publishing licences of three newspapers revoked.

The now-repealed Internal Security Act (ISA), a detention without trial law, was used against those detained. It allowed for detentions to be extended every two years after the first 60 days.

In conjunction with Ops Lalang’s 30th anniversary on October 27, activists again renewed calls for Dr Mahathir, who now heads the opposition, to apologise.

The 92-year-old is chairman of Bersatu and opposition pact Pakatan Harapan, which also comprises DAP, PKR and Amanah, whose leaders were among those detained under Ops Lalang.

A recent forum, in which former detainees shared what they had gone through, revealed that some were physically tortured.

Dr Mahathir, in his blog, said he never wanted to use ISA, but police did not agree with him.

“The first thing I did when I became prime minister was to order the release of 21 political prisoners under ISA.

“I did not like detentions without trial… I had hoped that during my tenure as prime minister, I would not have to detain anyone.

“I had asked police whether we could do without ISA. They did not agree, not even to reduce the detention term to one year.” – November 1, 2017.