SINGAPORE (UCAN) -- Vincent Cheng, former executive secretary of Singapore archdiocese's now defunct Justice and Peace Commission, was released June 19.

Cheng, 43, had been jailed by Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD) under the Internal Security Act (ISA) on May 21, 1987.

According to a government statement, the ISD did not recommend that Cheng be released, claiming he was evaluated as not yet being fully "rehabilitated."

But after an advisory board did recommend that Cheng be freed, the ISD decided to accept the release, subject to explicit conditions that prevent him from resuming activities for which he had been detained.

Unlike other conditionally released detainees, Cheng must report to the ISD on the first working day of each month at a time set by the ISD director.

Conditions of the release also forbid Cheng to: use religious organizations or publications for subversive or political ends; use communist front tactics to subvert Singapore's existing social and political system; associate with anyone connected with a Marxist or communist group.

He also may not associate or communicate with present or former detainees held by Malaysia's or Singapore's ISD, issue public statements, address public gatherings, or distribute or contribute any articles for publication.

Cheng, moreover, is not allowed to be a member, advisor or office holder in any organization, join in their activities without written permission from the ISD director, or leave Singapore without the director's written approval.

-- One of 22 persons detained in May-June 1987, Cheng had been charged as being "mastermind" of a Marxist plot to subvert the Singapore government.

He confessed to the charges under duress but later repudiated them, saying he had been abused and became exhausted during long hours of interrogation.

The government justified detaining him on grounds that he admitted in a TV interview that he would resort to violence to bring about a communist state.

It also maintains that Cheng met with Tan Wah Plow, a Marxist, in London in 1981, and that Cheng then agreed to carry out Tan's instructions to set up a united front of grassroots organizations in Singapore.

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