Five ethnic Indian leaders, detained by the Malaysian authorities for spearheading a massive anti-government protests under the draconian Internal Security Act, will know their fate when they face a top advisory board on Monday.
Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders P Uthayakumar, V Ganabathirau, T Vasanthakumar and lawyers R Kenghadharan and M Manoharan were detained on December 13, 2007 on the grounds that they were posing a threat to national security.
They are currently held at a detention centre in Taiping. Under the ISA, they can be held for two years without trial.
Hindraf had organised a rally of ethnic Indians on November 25 that saw more than 20,000 members of the minority community assemble to protest against their alleged marginalisation, a charge denied by Malaysia.
Karpal Singh, who is the lead lawyer for four of them, said on Thursday that the five men would appear before the three-member ISA advisory board, chaired by a judge.
"The board will hear their representation and defence and give its recommendations to the King," the New Straits Times said quoting Singh.
The detainees would be represented by their lawyers at the closed-door meeting. Gobind Singh Deo is appearing for R Kenghadharan, while the others will be represented by Karpal Singh, A Sivanesan and M Kulasegaran. Singh said the board could give its recommendations to the King to release the Hindraf members.
