Anger after Malaysian dissident crackdown

Updated September 15, 2008 12:40:19

Analysts say the rise of former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, is making the ruling UMNO party nervous. [Reuters]

The head of the Malaysian Bar Council says it will be lobbying police to allow lawyers access to two people detained under the Internal Security Act.

Malaysian authorities arrested several opposition figures late Friday, under the ISA.

Opposition politician Teresa Kok and Malaysia Today blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, remain in custody.

Journalist from the Chinese language Sin Chew Daily newspaper, Tan Hoon Cheng, has since been released because she "cooperated."

Prominent opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim accuses the government of using the Act to engineer "an atmosphere of fear and instability".

President of the Malaysian Bar Ambiga Sreenavasan has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program, lawyers have been unable to meet the two still in detention.

"As late as (Sunday) night I was told the lawyers have been unable to see the two persons mentioned and in fact this morning the Bar Council will be writing to the deputy inspector general of police to insist on access," she said.

Ms Sreenavasan says Malaysian authorities say blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin was arrested for "writing inflammatory articles on his blog", while Teresa Kok is being held for "stirring up racial tensions".

She says the home affairs minister's statements about Tan Hoon Cheng's arrest and subsequent release have been "pretty vague".

"One of the things that the minister said was it was also because of her safety that they took her in and that they wanted information and apparently released her after they got this information," Ms Sreenavasan said.

"Now that's strange to us because obviously you don't arrest someone under the ISA for their safety and number two, very unusually they released her within 24 hours.

"Now if you want information you could do that by just calling her into the police station, there was no need even for an arrest," she said.

Ms Tan was arrested after reporting on a ruling party member who called ethnic Chinese "squatters".

Ms Sreenavasan says Ms Tan should not have been arrested.

"As far as the Bar Council is concerned, nobody should be arrested under the draconian Internal Security Act," she said.

"But if anyone should have been taken to task, it ought to have been the person who made the statement."

Malaysian police have allowed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to hold a rally today, protesting against the government crackdown widely seen as a move to derail his plans to take power.

The rally is expected to draw 30,000 supporters to a stadium in the opposition-held state of Selangor in central Malaysia.

It's being held on the eve of Mr Anwar's bid to lure 30 MPs from the ruling party to join his opposition bloc and form government.

Ms Sreenavasan says she expects a large turnout for the rally.

"A lot of people are upset by the arrests," she told Radio Australia.

She says the arrests may reflect a nervousness in the Government about the possible defections to Anwar Ibrahim.

"I wouldn't like to second guess that, but their recent reactions on the ISA are certainly giving that impression," she said.