Five leaders of the Malaysian Indian activist group Hindraf were detained yesterday under controversial internal security laws that allow for detention without trial, a spokesman said.
The Internal Security Act (ISA), which human rights groups are campaigning to have abolished, is currently being used to hold more than 100 people, including about 80 alleged Islamic militants.
It is believed it had not been used against government critics since 2001, when Malaysia was under the iron grip of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad who used it to quell a reform movement triggered by the arrest of his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.
"Police detained Hindraf legal adviser P. Uthayakumar and four other leaders today in an unwarranted action under the ISA," Hindraf member S. Jayathas said.
Jayathas said police also detained M. Manoharan, R. Kenghadharan, V. Ganabatirau and T. Vasanthakumar -- prominent members of the group which irritated the government by mounting a mass anti-discrimination rally last month.
"Regardless of the arrests this struggle will move on. We have many leaders who are waiting to take over, and we will not go backwards but move ahead with the fight for the rights of Indians in Malaysia," Jayathas said.
Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang condemned the government's move and said that if the Hindraf leaders had committed any offense, they should be charged and tried in an open court.
"It is deplorable, the use of the ISA is completely indefensible," he said.
"To resort to detention without trial is a regression to the dark days of human rights violations and is something that will bring further shame to Malaysia's international image and reputation." he said.
Three Hindraf leaders have already been charged with sedition for speeches in which they criticized preferential treatment for Muslim Malays, who make up 60 percent of the population and control the government.
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
RSS