BEBASKAN TAHANAN ISA !

Malaysia under growing pressure to charge or release Anwar supporters

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 - Malaysia came under mounting international pressure Thursday to charge or release six opposition detainees, with 46 members of Denmark's parliament issuing the latest in a series of petitions to the government.

They joined parliamentarians from Britain, Japan and the Netherlands and a group of 40 Islamic scholars who have already pressed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad over the six men, whose initial two-year detention orders expire on June 1.
The Internal Security Act (ISA) under which they are held allows detention without trial and the standard two-year detention orders can be renewed indefinitely.

The Danish MPs expressed their "deepest concerns" over the six men, who are supporters of jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

They are accused of planning to use violence to topple the government but they have not been charged in court and no evidence has been presented.

The letter, a copy of which was received by AFP, said the ISA violated fundamental human rights and called for the men to be brought to court or released immediately.

"If the six men had committed a crime that posed a threat to the security of Malaysia, there would be sufficient evidence to charge them," they said.

"Thus far there is no evidence as such. This establishes the premise that the six men are detained for their political association and beliefs," they said.

Anwar, Mahathir's former protege, was sacked in 1998 and is serving 15 years in jail on corruption and sodomy charges.

Government critics say Anwar was framed to remove a political threat to Mahathir and that the ISA has been used to stifle protest.

The detainees are: Mohammad Ezam Mohamad Noor, youth leader of the opposition National Justice Party (Keadilan); Tian Chua, deputy youth chief; Hishamudin Rais, Badrul Amin, Saari Sungib and Lokman Noor Adam. Keadilan is led by Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. -AFP