Following the Federal Court's ruling that the arrest and 60-day detention of the reformasi six under the Internal Security Act was done in bad faith, the ISA review board has recommended that five of them be released.

According to Latheefa Koya, o­ne of the lawyers who represented the five, the court ruling is the main reason why the board chose to recommend that Keadilan party leaders Tian Chua, Saari Sungib, Lokman Noor Adam and Dr Badrulamin Bahron and malaysiakini columnist-cum-filmmaker Hishamuddin Rais be freed.

The board will submit the recommendations to the Home Ministry for consideration, she said when contacted yesterday.

By law, the review board, consisting of senior civil servants, sits every six months to hear appeals by detainees against their detention orders. The board will then submit its decision and recommendations to the home minister who may exercise his discretion to act upon the board's findings.

On Sept 6, the Federal Court found that the five reformats leaders Tian Chua, Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Saari Sungib, Hishamuddin Rais and Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin had been detained unlawfully for the first 60 days under the ISA.