A crowd of 200 today accompanied a delegation to hand over a memorandum to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Norian Mai, calling for the police to unconditionally release or charge in court the 10 reformasi activists detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) since April 10.

The delegation, led by opposition leader and Abolish ISA Movement (AIM) chairperson Fadzil Noor, also comprised PRM President Dr Syed Husin Ali, Keadilan's Anuar Tahir, AIM Working Co-ordinator Zaid Kamaruddin and wives and families of ISA detainees.

The crowd stood patiently along the main road leading to the police headquarters in Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur, while the delegation was allowed in to meet with a representative of the IGP, Public Relations Officer ASP Joon Ngo.

Ngo explained that she was going to accept the memorandum on behalf of Norian as he was "busy".

Five policemen with riot gear stood watch as the people waited for the delegation to come out.

Although it was supposed to be a silent protest, symbolised by the white strips of cloth worn over protesters' mouths, the gathering was not unlike other reformasi outings as the crowd shouted " Hapuskan ISA! " (abolish ISA) and "Reformasi!".

Those participating in a hunger strike launched on Thursday for the release of the detainees were also present, displaying a banner that stated: 'Hunger Strike for Freedom!'.

Pigeons

After handing over the memorandum, Fadzil told the crowd that the delegation had expressed disappointment over Norian's failure to personally receive the memorandum and that it was handed over to Ngo with a heavy heart.

"We are serious in ensuring justice for the ISA detainees," said Fadzil.

Fadzil then released 10 pigeons, symbolising the release of the 10 ISA detainees. As each of the pigeons was released, the 10 names were shouted out one by one.

To date, 10 political leaders and human rights activists have been detained under the ISA in a police dragnet launched on April 10. The initial seven arrested, police said, were allegedly planning to topple the government via militant means.

The 10 are Keadilan leaders Tian Chua and Dr Badrul Amin Baharom; party Youth leaders Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor, Saari Sungib, N Gobalakrishnan, Abdul Ghani Haroon and Lokman Noor Adam, webmaster of Free Anwar Campaign website (Freeanwar.com) Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin; human rights activist Badaruddin Ismail; and social activist-cum- malaysiakini columnist Hishamuddin Rais.