A human rights organisation today accused the government of side stepping legal procedures in detaining Sri Lankan businessman BSA Tahir under Internal Security Act (ISA) last Friday.

The Anti-ISA Movement (AIM) said it was alarmed by the fact that Tahir, 44, had been detained under Section 8 of the ISA and had immediately been sent to the Kamunting detention centre in Taiping. The section allows for a renewable two-year detention without trial.

"This is unprecedented. Normally a person would be arrested under Section 73 for a maximum 60 days before his or her detention is extended to two years under Section 8," AIM chairperson Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said in a statement today.

"AIM questions if the detention of Tahir under Section 8 is an attempt by the government to cover up other important persons in the scandal of nuclear weapons from being exposed if Tahir chooses to file an application of habeas corpus to be heard in court.

"This arrest directly under Section 8 is clear example of abuse of power. It sets a very bad precedent for future arrests where a detainee would be deprived of even the slim possibility of freedom through habeas corpus applications under Section 73."

Judicial review for detention under Section 8 is not allowed under the Act.

Cleared previously

Tahir made the headlines when he was identified as the middle man in a deal to supply parts to Libya's nuclear weapons programme.

He had been liaising with Scomi, a Malaysian company controlled by Kamaluddin Abdullah, the son of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The police have since cleared the company of any wrongdoing.

Tahir was accused by US security services as being part of a nuclear parts and material distribution network headed by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. He had admitted to being the middle man.

Inspector-General of Police Mohamed Bakri Omar was later reported as saying that Tahir had not committed any crime and was free to leave Malaysia. Tahir is married to a Malaysian and has permanent residency, but also has a home in Dubai.

Abdullah, commenting on the arrest over the weekend, backed the use of the ISA and said investigations were continuing into Tahir's case.