The Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court has discharged one of the seven university students charged with illegal assembly outside the National Mosque in June 2001, but without acquitting him.

The court was told that police could not locate fifth defendant Wan Mohd Sanusi Wan Mohd Noor at his house address to serve him notice to appear today.

Magistrate Azniza Mohd Ali then issued a discharge not amounting to an acquittal. A similar hitch was recorded last November, when Mohd Sanusi claimed that he had not received the notice to appear in court.

The remaining six of the 'ISA 7' - as they have been dubbed - were present for the retrial ordered by the KL High Court last year, which allowed the prosecution appeal against their acquittal in April 2005.

The magistrate allowed an application by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Abazafree to proceed to the defence stage immediately. This will be heard on Thursday.

The defendants - Nik Norhafizi Nik Ibrahim, Zulkefle Idris, Ahmad Kamal Abdul Hamid, Rafzan Ramli, Helman Sanuddin and Khairul Amal Mahmud - were allowed bail at RM2,500 each.

They are represented by Latheefa Koya, Edmund Bon, Amer Hamzah and Zulkifli Omar.

The charge is in connection with their alleged participation in a protest rally outside the National Mosque on June 8, 2001, against the detention of 10 reformasi leaders.

After their arrest, the students were barred from classes by their respective universities - Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Malaya and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

The trial took almost two years to complete, being marked by numerous postponements.