Internal Security Act detainee Ahmad Jinbaz Mukhlis Mokhtar Ghazali has applied for a habeas corpus hearing before the Ipoh High Court.

According to lawyers of the family, the habeas corpus application was filed last Monday and the case will be heard on April 3 before Justice Abdul Malek Embong.

An affidavit was filed by Ahmads wife Suzaina Mohamad, the lawyer said.

Habeas corpus is a writ which tests whether a prisoner has been accorded due process and thus functions to secure his or her release from unlawful detention.

A religious preacher, Ahmad, 42, was arrested on Feb 21 in Taiping after he had concluded a session at a local factory.

According to Suzaina, her husband was arrested under Section 73 of the ISA, which allows for his detention of 60 days at most, for posing a threat to natural security.

On the day of his arrest, Suzaina told malaysiakini that he could have been detained for his Shiah beliefs.

However, in a New Straits Times report the next day, Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai was quoted as saying that Ahmad was arrested for his involvement with the so-called Malaysian Mujahidin Group (KMM).

Among those arrested under the ISA for alleged links to KMM, were the son of PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Nik Adli, and other PAS activists.

In its Kamunting Detention Centre visit report last October, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) claimed that two individuals were believed to be detained for their Shiah beliefs.

The report stated them being categorised, however, as members of an international terrorist group.

According to Suaram, a human rights organisation established with the aim of abolishing the controversial act, six individuals have been detained under the ISA for their Shiah beliefs since 2000.