Prominent human rights lawyer P Uthayakumar, who returned to Kuala Lumpur yesterday from Britain where he had sought asylum, challenged the police today to sue him for libel, rather than criminal defamation, if they feel they have a case against him.

"The issue of criminal defamation does not arise. It is an indication of high-handedness and police abuse...I challenge them to sue me in a civil court," Uthayakumar said in a telephone interview today.

However, he said that, should the police press ahead with criminal defamation charges against him, he was prepared to face the situation.

"There is no basis to the charge but if they want to do so, I am prepared to face the charges," Uthayakumar said, adding that the police should have investigated his complaints instead of him.

Uthayakumar, a vocal critic of police abuses, has been in Britain for the last three weeks after applying for asylum on arrival at London's Heathrow airport on May 20.

He cited attacks on him and his car by a group of unknown assailants - incidents about which he had lodged police reports locally - and pointed fingers at the police as the alleged perpetrators.

In turn, Brickfields district police chief Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin lodged a police report against Uthayakumar for alleged criminal defamation.

The lawyer claimed that the attacks was motivated by his handling of the case of G Francis Udayapan , a VCD vendor who had purportedly escaped from the Brickfields district police headquarters in mid-April after being arrested. His body was found 37 days later.

A team from the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters later cleared the Brickfields police of any foul play.

'Nazri's assurance'

A week ago, Nazri Abdul Aziz, the minister in the Prime Minister's Department told a press conference in the Parliament lobby that the government pledged Uthayakumar's safety and urged him to return.

Today, asked why he decided to return, Uthayakumar said that he had Nazri to thank for the decision.

"I appreciated his assurance and based on that, I immediately came back. He guaranteed my safety and that was exactly what I wanted," said Uthayakumar, who had previously said he would only come home if the police and government would provide such an assurance.

Federal CID chief Musa Hassan and Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar were others who had asked the lawyer to return and substantiate his claims.

Uthayakumar further said he had held meetings with several international human rights groups and that this had bolstered his confidence.

"Several United Nations groups have made representations to the Malaysian government on my behalf," he said.

They included the offices of the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders.

"They were alerted by urgent appeals sent out by Amnesty International, the World Organisation Against Torture and the International Service for Human Rights," Uthayakumar said.

He has also been in touch with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and groups which defend human rights activists such as London-based Interights and the Dublin-based Frontline.

Uthayakumar added that he would be discussing with his lawyers the possibility of filing civil suits against The Malay Mail , the police and the government for "defamatory comments" made against him.