Malaysian court judges 'draconian' security act

The Internal Security Act has been a hallmark of the 20-year tenure of Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

By CNN's Nic Hopkins and wires

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia's top judge has agreed to widen an appeal against the jailing of four opposition activists in a case that puts the nation's controversial Internal Security Act on trial.

Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah ruled that evidence lawyers say discredits the authorities' motives for their arrests could be included in the appeal of four men, all supporters of jailed former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

They were among 10 Anwar supporters arrested in April, accused of planning violent protests aimed at toppling the government.

Six are still being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), a hallmark of the 20-year tenure of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that allows detention without trial for up to two years.

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"We are unanimous that both the applicants' applications to produce further evidence are allowed..." the chief justice said.

Under the microscope

The case has attracted an enormous amount of attention in Malaysia because it puts the validity of the ISA, described by is detractors as cruel and draconian, to the test in the nation's highest court.

The Bar Council of Malaysia, one of the loudest critics of the ISA, has established a "watching brief" on the case. It will ensure one of its members is represented during all hearings, outlining its interests in the case, despite not playing an active role in the proceedings.

Lawyers are challenging the use of the ISA to detain supporters of jailed former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim

Dzaiddin, presiding over a five-strong panel of judges, allowed lawyers acting for the police and the government more time to prepare their case, postponing appeal hearings for several weeks and without setting a new date.

Lawyers and families of the six Anwar supporters being held say the police allegations are baseless and the arrests were aimed at throttling opposition activity.

Sulaiman Abdullah, representing the prisoners, said affidavits from the detainees showed police interrogations made no mention of charges related to violence or national security.

"They were not asked questions about those matters at all," he told the court, adding interrogators had instead quizzed prisoners on their sex lives, urged them to join ruling alliance parties and not to support Anwar.

Monday's appeal was against a judge's decision denying detainees' habeas corpus applications, which call for prisoners to be brought to court to determine whether detention is lawful.

The original case concerned five of the detainees, one of whom has since been released.

Crackdown

It also comes as the Mahathir government intensifies its crackdown on what it considers radical political elements in Malaysia.

Last week, police arrested 10 more men under the ISA, including at least four from Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), the son of a prominent opposition politician, accusing them of involvement in an Afghanistan-trained militant group.

Malaysian police say 34-year-old Nik Adli Nik Abdul Aziz was arrested in the eastern state of Kelantan on suspicion of involvement in a group waging a "holy war".

His father, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat - who is the chief minister of Kelantan - is reported to have confirmed that his son had been to Afghanistan and had supported Muslims there in their fight against the Russian military. PAS leads the opposition front, which also includes Parti Keadilan, led by Anwar's wife.

Vocal opponent

The Bar Council been a vocal opponent of the ISA but, in the face of the new wave of arrests under the act, has recently escalated its approach from criticism to making its presence felt in the courts.

"We have always said this is a very draconian piece of legislation," Bar Council chairman Mah Wen Kwai told CNN.

"We argue all the people who are considered a threat to national security, politicians or not, deserve a trial."

The movement against the ISA has also been reflected in the nation's judicial system, which has in recent months begun to display greater independence from the government.

"The judiciary appears to be trying to reassert itself against the very strong executive powers of the government," says P. Ramasamy, a professor of political science at the National University of Malaysia.

Undeterred

But protests and looming legal action has done nothing to discourage Mahathir's government from bringing the ISA into use.

Of the 10 people arrested under the ISA in the past week, six were members of Malaysia's largest Islamic opposition party, known as PAS.

Malaysian media reports say the nation's police chief has accused the detainees of planning a "terrorist inspired holy war".

Known for its more fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, PAS holds regional power over a handful of Malaysian states including Trengganu and Kelantan

The arrests also follow a refusal by PAS to end public rallies.