KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s highest court on Wednesday refused to release five ethnic Indian activists being held indefinitely under a tough security law for mounting an anti-discrimination rally.

Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail said the three Federal Court judges led by chief judge Alauddin Mohamad Sherif agreed with an earlier high court ruling that said the detention was lawful.

“It was a unanimous decision by the three judges, who agreed that the decision by the high court should be upheld, after going through the arguments of both sides thoroughly,” Abdul Gani said.

The five, including a newly sworn-in state lawmaker, were held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after enraging the government in November by mounting a mass rally alleging discrimination against minority ethnic Indians.

Ethnic Indians make up less than eight per cent of the 27 million population of the mainly Muslim-Malay country.

Lawyers for the five said they would appeal on Monday for the Federal Court to review its decision.

“The judges did not address the arguments we submitted,” said prominent lawyer and opposition lawmaker Karpal Singh.

“This is a very important case with far-reaching consequences. How can they detain someone without a police investigation?” Karpal said.

During a hearing last month, Abdul Gani urged the court not to release the activists as they were a threat to national security and that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had ordered their detention after a thorough investigation.

But Karpal had argued that their detention was illegal and tantamount to an abuse of power by the government because there had been no 60-day investigation period beforehand.

Ethnic Indian rights group Hindraf urged opposition lawmakers to protest against the ruling.

“We are calling on all 82 opposition MPs to stage a one-day walkout of parliament to show the people’s anger at the decision and the government’s attempt to stop any discussion of the ISA in the parliament,” group coordinator R. Thanenthiran said, adding they would organise more demonstrations if they were not freed.

“We now have no choice but to demonstrate in order to get justice.” Rights groups say 70 people, mainly alleged Islamic militants, are being held under the ISA.

Parts of the act date back to the British colonial era, when it was used against communist insurgents. It provides for two-year detention periods that can be renewed indefinitely.—AFP