One of the longest-running cases in Malaysian legal history is set to conclude with the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court today tentatively fixing March 17 next year for a decision o­n the 'false' news' trial involving labour activist Irene Fernandez.

The date will mark exactly eight years since Fernandez was arrested for allegedly publishing false information relating to the deaths of inmates at immigration detention camps.

Fernandez ( photo ) was arrested o­n March 18, 1996, and subsequently charged under Section 8A(2) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (1984) for "maliciously publishing false news" after she released a memorandum during a press conference in August 1995 about torture and deaths in camps for illegal immigrants.