The Kulim magistrate's court today granted bail to detained Keadilan Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor who has been charged with rioting and unlawful detention.

When contacted, his lawyer Cheah Kah Peng said magistrate Noor Hisham Ismail fixed the bail at RM5,000. It was posted by Keadilan Penang Youth chief Muhamad Rodzi Abdul Hamid.

Cheah said the prosecution did not object but told the court that Mohd Ezam could not be released since he is serving a separate two-year sentence for breaching the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

Mohd Ezam, along with five Keadilan leaders, has been accused of rioting and illegally detaining people whom they suspected were phantom voters during the 1999 Lunas by-election in Kedah.

Greeted by supporters

On Sunday, he was released from his two-year Internal Security Act detention together with three others.

He was arrested in 2001 with five others, four of whom are Keadilan leaders, for allegedly planning to topple the government through militant means, a charge which they have denied.

Last year, the former aide of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, was found guilty of leaking documents pertaining to a graft probe on two ruling politicians and convicted under the OSA. He is due for release in December.

This morning, Mohd Ezam was brought to the Kulim police headquarters last night from the Kajang Prison. He was greeted by a large crowd of supporters and Barisan Alternatif leaders, including Keadilan vice-president Azmin Ali.

He was taken back to the Kajang prison about noon immediately after his bail application was heard. The hearing continues next week.

His lawyers submitted the application two days ago.

Mother ill

In a related development, Mohd Ezam's family filed for bail pending his appeal on his OSA conviction at the Shah Alam Hight Court yesterday as his mother is ill.

His wife Bahirah Tajul Aris said lawyer Zainur Zakaria filed the application.

"We need the hearing to be done very urgently as (Mohd) Ezam's mother is very sick now and was admitted to the Subang Jaya Medical Centre on Monday for acute migraine.

"I hope the court can hear the application as soon as possible as there is a need of urgency and I hope (Mohd) Ezam could be released very soon," she told malaysiakini .

She said a copy of his mother's medical report was also submitted to the court, which has yet to fix a date for hearing.