After being remanded for more than six months in Sungai Buloh prison, two Burmese asylum-seekers were freed today.

The Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court ordered their release on grounds that they were recognised refugees when arrested on June 16, 2005.

At the time, they were visiting 64 of their Burmese friends who had been detained earlier for illegal assembly, while demonstrating in front of their embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The two were charged under Section 6 (1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1967 for entering and staying in Malaysia without valid documents.

This morning, they were handed over to a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officer after it emerged that they had been recognised as refugees before their arrest.

Two other asylum-seekers who were arrested together with them remain under remand at the women's prison in Kajang, Selangor.

One, who holds a Burmese passport, has been charged under Section 15 of the Immigration Act for over-staying, while the other has been charged under Section 6 (1)(c) of the Act.

Magistrate Mohd Khairi Haron fixed their case for mention on Jan 17.

Trial dates set

In the demonstration which led to their arrest, the 64 asylum-seekers were commemorating the 60th birthday of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and protesting against the Burmese military junta.

A total of 37 have claimed trial. The hearing has been fixed for March 7, but proceedings for two minors will be held in the Kuala Lumpur juvenile court on Jan 17.

Their lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad questioned the basis for the continued detention of the asylum-seekers, since the majority had received UNHCR recognition since their arrest.

Amer said the Attorney-General's Chambers should drop the charges against the others as well because "refugee status is not something conferred upon an asylum-seeker" or regarded as only effective from the date of recognition.

"It's not like citizenship which takes effect on the date of conferment. It should be backdated to the time the person left his or her country seeking refugee. This is the principle on which the UNHCR works," he said outside the court.

Earlier, 27 members of the group had been sentenced to five months in jail after pleading guilty to charges under the Police Act of holding a gathering without a permit and failing to obey an order to disperse.

They were transferred to the Semenyih detention centre after serving their sentence.

In another magistrate's court, a Burmese refugee was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal today after spending nine months in remand in Sungai Buloh.

He was arrested during a raid on undocumented migrant workers and charged under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act.

Slamming the authorities for the delay in processing his release, his lawyer James Khong said it illustrated the urgent need for a separate Immigration Court to deal more efficiently with such cases.

"This delay is just one example of what is plaguing our courts in Malaysia," said an irate Khong when met later.