The Government has barred Mr Vincent Cheng from speaking about his detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Mr Cheng was arrested in May 1987 together with more than 20 Singaporeans and detained for up to two years. They were accused of conspiring to violently overthrow the Government through a network that advocated Marxist principles. Mr Cheng, a Catholic church worker, was accused of being the ringleader. He was detained without trial and beaten and tortured into confessing what Mr Lee Kuan Yew accused him of. Twenty-three years later, the ex-detainee wants to reveal all at a talk at the National Library. He was scheduled to speak at a forum on 4 Jun 10 organised by the National University of Singapore (NUS) History Society. But the Government won't allow him. (See also Martyn See's blog) Why is the PAP so afraid of what the ex-detainee has to say? A church worker, Mr Cheng was studying and working with the poor in Singapore to help alleviate their crushing burden. The PAP felt threatened perhaps because there was indeed a growing layer of underclass in Singapore even at that time. It accused him willy-nilly of heading a Marxist conspiracy. On 21 May 1987, the ISD rounded up 22 citizens, including Mr Vincent Cheng. Among them were social workers, lawyers, and artists. Save for Mr Cheng, the prisoners were released in late 1987. The Government declared that the detainees had been treated well and were not tortured in any way, and that the confessions were all voluntary. Unable to contain their anguish at the injustice and the taunting that the PAP was dishing out, several of the detainees issued a statement refuting the Government's claim that they were not tortured: