A former Malaysian politician accused of links to underworld crime is severely weak after refusing to eat for nearly three weeks to protest his banishment by authorities to a remote province, his family said yesterday.
Human-rights activists say the case of Balakrishnan Appala, who launched a protest fast with his wife on Nov. 30, highlights the misuse of laws that allow the Malaysian government to imprison, banish or restrict the movement of suspects without trial.
Balakrishnan, a former branch leader in the Malaysian Indian Congress, the country's largest ethnic Indian political party, "prefers to die" unless authorities set him free or charge him in court for any wrongdoing, said his brother, Thirumoorthy Appala.
The 36-year old Balakrishnan was banished to a rural district in northeastern Kelantan state in April under the Emergency Ordinance, which has been invoked over the past 35 years against suspects in crimes such as drug trafficking, mafia activities and falsifying government documents.
Under the order, Balakrishnan cannot leave the district and must report to police each week. Balakrishnan, who claims he was wrongly suspected of involvement in gangsterism after being framed by his political rivals, has not been formally charged for any offense.
Balakrishnan has undertaken his protest fast in a makeshift hut in Kelantan, while his wife, Rakumani Devi, has camped near the Internal Security Ministry in Putrajaya, Malaysia's administrative capital.
Senior officials at the ministry, which handles detentions under the Emergency Ordinance, could not immediately be contacted for comment. Government authorities have not publicly commented on the case.
Balakrishnan and Rakumani have been hospitalized intermittently in the past week and placed on intravenous drips, but they have refused solid food and are "very weak and getting worse," said S. Arutchelvan, a spokesman for Malaysia's main human-rights group, Suaram.
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