Malaysia: Political Prisoners

Mr. Carmichael
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the Malaysian Government on the imprisonment of Hindu Rights Action Force leaders P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, V. Ganabatirau, R. Kenghadharan and T. Vasanthakumar under the Malaysian Internal Security Act.

Meg Munn
As yet, we have made no representations on these specific cases. However, we are considering these cases with our EU partners. The EU has previously expressed concern to the Malaysian Government about the use of the Internal Security Act.

Mr. Carmichael
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the Malaysian Government regarding Malaysia's Internal Security Act, with particular reference to its provisions which allow indefinite detention without charge or trial.

Meg Munn
We are discussing with our EU partners recent arrests under the Internal Security Act. The EU has previously expressed concern to the Malaysian Government about the use of the Internal Security Act.