Some 300 inmates being held without trial at a detention centre launched a hunger strike to protest against the conditions there and press for their release, a rights group said yesterday.

The detainees have complained of "very poor living conditions which continue to deteriorate" at the Simpang Renggam detention centre in Johor, Voice of the Malaysian People (Suaram) executive director Cynthia Gabriel told AFP .

They will refuse food until they are allowed to meet Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, she said.

Gabriel added that a number of the detainees have been at the camp for up to eight years, and some had been released but re-arrested and had two-year detention orders renewed.

Tough laws

The prisoners are being held under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance, under which the government can detain suspects for two years to preserve public order or prevent violence.

Rights groups have frequently criticised Malaysia for its tough laws including the Internal Security Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

In September more than 130 asylum seekers, including Acehnese from Indonesia and Burmese nationals, launched a hunger strike at the Semenyih detention centre to protest against the conditions there and call for their release.

They ended their strike after intervention from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).