Barisan Alternatif (BA) Youth today urged Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to order a retrial for jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim to show his commitment towards upholding justice and democracy.

Angkatan Pemuda Keadilan chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor said this was among the 19 demands listed by the opposition front's Youth wing for Abdullah to undertake within the first 100 days of his administration.

"Anwar is a victim of political conspiracy. At the very least, he should be released on humanitarian grounds to spend the Hari Raya with his family since he has applied for bail (pending his appeal)," he told reporters at the lobby of the premier's office in Putrajaya.

The former deputy premier was sacked in 1998 and subsequently found guilty of committing sodomy and corruption. He is currently serving a 15-year jail sentence for both the offences

He claims that the charges were trumped up by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his cohorts but this has been denied by the authorities.

Free ISA detainees

Meanwhile, Mohd Ezam said Abdullah should also free those held under the Internal Security Act unless the police was able to bring charges against them.

"I was an ISA detainee so I know what it is like to be held. The government has had enough time to complete their investigations so they should release these people ahead of Hari Raya.

"(Abdullah) is the home minister so he has the power to make the orders," said the opposition leader, who was detained for two years under the security law for allegedly planing to topple the government through militant means.

He said if Abdullah heeded these calls, it would be a positive beginning for his administration and pointed out that Mahathir had also released a group of political detainees when he came into office in 1981.

Mohd Ezam and his PAS counterpart Salahuddin Ayub submitted their memorandum to the prime minister's press secretary Azhar Othman.

Abdullah became the country's fifth prime minister on Oct 31 following Mahathir's retirement after being at the helm for 22 years.

Repeal harsh laws

Salahuddin said the memorandum was a follow-up action to the call made on Abdullah to fulfill his promise to fight graft and create a better nation.

"We ask that he acts on the list of items that we submitted on Oct 31," he said, referring to a police report lodged by the two BA leaders on Mahathir's alleged wrongdoings.

Among others, the memorandum called for the resumption of Anti-Corruption Agency investigations into graft cases involving Minister of International Trade and Industry Rafidah Aziz, former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik and former Economic Planning Unit chief Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman.

It also urged the premier to look into the alleged abuse of public institution funds, including the Employees' Provident Fund, Teachers' Provident Fund, Armed Forces Fund and Tabung Haji.

Another demand was that restrictive laws be repealed and steps be taken to return independence to the judiciary, ACA, the police, election commission and attorney-general's chambers.

Abdullah was also asked to reinstate funding for sekolah agama rakyat (public religious schools) and reintroduce scholarship awards for qualified as well as poor bumiputera students.

With his religious background and lineage, the BA leaders said the premier should also introduce policies, rules and values which are based on Islam.