Malaysia: 10 Hindu leaders in jail upto 5 years

Putrajaya (Malaysia), Oct 25: The ten supporters of the outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), who were arrested for gathering outside the prime minister's office on Thursday, Oct 23 face a maximum five years' imprisonment if convicted under the Societies Act 1966, reports nstonline.com.

Those convicted could also be slapped with a maximum fine of RM15000 under section 48 of the Act. On Friday, Oct 24 they were produced before magistrate Nurdiana Mohd Nazir who allowed the police to detain them up till Oct 26 to carry out investigations, added the report. Earlier, investigating officer ASP Rajali Agong applied to the court for a 14-day remand order to enable police to find out the motives of the assembly and who the organisers were.

However, counsel Amer Hamzah Arshad informed the court that amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) only allowed a magistrate to allow a maximum seven-day detention if the offence investigated was punishable with a jail term of up to 14 years.

During the remand hearing, one of the female detainees fainted while explaining the conditions of the lock-up to the magistrate. She was rushed to a local hospital. N. Surendran, a lawyer who appeared with Amer, said the detainee was a diabetic and her legs had swollen as she had been unable to obtain insulin since her detention.

ANI