Malaysian human rights activists demanded yesterday that the government release a senior figure in a worldwide nuclear arms network who has been detained without trial, or charge him in court.
Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan with permanent Malaysian residency, was arrested on Friday, becoming the highest-level operative of the nuclear trafficking network of disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan to be jailed since the ring was uncovered early this year.
His detention was "a clear example of abuse of power" that could be aimed at protecting "other important persons in the scandal of nuclear weapons from being exposed," activist Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh told a news conference.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had previously insisted Tahir did nothing wrong by arranging for a Malaysian firm to make centrifuge parts for Libya's nuclear programs. The company, Scomi Precision Engineering (SCOPE) denied knowing what the parts were for.
But Abdullah said at the weekend that police had uncovered new evidence indicating that Tahir threatened Malaysia's national security. He gave no details.
SCOPE was a subsidiary of Scomi Group, an oil and gas firm controlled by Abdullah's only son, Kamaluddin Abdullah. Scomi and Kamaluddin have since cut ties with Tahir and sold SCOPE.
Syed Ibrahim called for further investigations to determine whether Kamaluddin should remain spared from any action, adding that Tahir should be permitted to publicly defend himself and expose other figures who might be involved in the scandal.
Hamdan Adnan, a senior member of Malaysia's government-backed Human Rights Commis-sion, said authorities should deport Tahir instead of detaining him indefinitely if he is deemed a threat.
Tahir was arrested under a colonial era law allowing indefinite detention without trial for suspects deemed to have threatened national security.
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