Some visits to detained activists in KL allowed

Some visits to detained activists in KL allowed

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysian police have started allowing wives of activists detained since last month under the country's tough security laws to visit them, a leader of a human rights group said on Thursday.

Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin, one of 10 people detained since April 10 for allegedly planning violent protests against the government, has been allowed a visit from his wife, said Cynthia Gabriel from the human rights groups Suaram.

Police have also told the wives of two other detainees that they could visit their husbands on Friday at Bukit Aman, the national police headquarters, Gabriel told Reuters.

But she said the family of Tian Chua, another detainee, was told to write to police a letter requesting a visit.

"We're not really sure what's happening," Gabriel said. "We hope it's not a tactic to divide the solidarity of the families."

The families of the detainees had rallied together since their arrest to condemn the government for its use of the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows detention without trial and without access to lawyers and family members.

"The past police practice is to allow ISA detainees to have first access by their family members by the end of the second or, latest, the beginning of the third week of arrest," said Lim Kit Siang, a veteran opposition leader detained twice under the act.

"Malaysians must be told why the ISA is being applied in such a harsh and inhuman manner in the case of these 10 ISA arrests."

Nine of the detainees are supporters of jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim while the 10th is a Suaram activist.

The 10 detainees are accused of plotting to overthrow the government by violent means. The opposition has rubbished the allegations and demanded proof for the arrests, which police have yet to show.

Once a prime-minister-in-waiting, Anwar is serving 15 years jail for sex and graft charges he says were made up after his fallout with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir denies any conspiracy against Anwar, calling him immoral and unfit to rule.

Malaysia's health minister on Thursday accused jailed Anwar of using his health problems for political gain, one day after the former deputy premier rejected a government ultimatum to undergo surgery locally or be returned to prison.

Chu Jui Meng also hinted that authorities would not waste time in returning Anwar to prison from a state run hospital where he has been undergoing treatment for a slipped disc since Nov. 25.

"We have many patients waiting for treatment," Chua told reporters. "Our specialists cannot be waiting for one man. What about the rights of other patients?"

Doctors say Anwar needs surgery to fix the back problem, but negotiations about exactly what type of surgery and where it will be performed have been at a stalemate for weeks.

Anwar wants to travel to a clinic in Munich, Germany, and have Dutch specialist Dr. Thomas Hoogland to perform endoscopic microsurgery on his back. The government says Anwar, like any prisoner, is barred from traveling overseas and should accept a different kind of microsurgery performed by local doctors.