Malaysia has imprisoned six more men under a strict security law that allows for indefinite detention without trial, a rights group said yesterday.
The Abolish ISA Movement, which campaigns to repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA), found out recently that the six men were detained last month under the law, group chairman Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said.
Home Ministry officials could not immediately be reached to confirm the group’s claim.
Syed Ibrahim said the group’s lawyers discovered the new names on a list of detainees when they visited the special detention center for those arrested under the act. They do not know why the men were arrested, he said.
“I’m quite shocked and annoyed to see what the government is doing,” he said. “We have been speaking out against this law, and here we have six more detainees.”
Rights groups have long campaigned against the act, saying alleged criminals should be tried in court. But the government says the act is necessary for national security.
Malaysia is currently holding 68 people, including 33 foreigners, under the act, Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung was quoted by the national news agency Bernama as saying this week. It was not clear if the number includes the six reported by the Abolish ISA group.
Four Indonesian alleged terrorism suspects held under the act were released and deported early this month, the group said in a statement. Two were arrested in 2002 for alleged links to Jemaah Islamiyah, while the other two were held in 2006 for alleged links to another militant group.
Five ethnic Indian activists detained after organizing a mass protest for equal rights for all races in Malaysia are also being detained. The government they had become a national security threat.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS