updated version

Police today arrested 48 people, including a journalist and two cameramen, during a protest against the Internal Security Act at Kamunting Detention Camp in Perak.

The first to be arrested were Suaram co-ordinator S Arutchelvam, Keadilan's Abdul Ghani Haroon, PAS' Salleh Osman, Keadilan's Fairus Hashim and Hashim Haroon, Community Development Centre's R Selvam and Parti Sosialis Malaysia's Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj.

They were part of 300 people who had gathered near the detention camp to submit a memorandum to the Kamunting camp administrators to express concern over the welfare and health of the ISA detainees.

While FRU personnel were in the act of dispersing curious bystanders outside a row of shops at Jalan Kamunting, about 20 PAS supporters who were eating in a nearby restaurant were asked to show their identity cards and later arrested by the police.

Also taken into custody were Internet-based Radiqradio journalist Sevan Doraisamy and two cameramen - opposition organ Harakah 's Nasir Sudin and Hanafiah Hamzah from Singapore-based Channel News Asia .

Those arrested were taken to the Taiping police station. However, it is believed that the police will release about 30 of them later today.

Today's gathering, organised by the Abolish ISA Movement, was joined by former detainees, activists, opposition lawmakers and families of the current detainees.

It was held to mark the 14th anniversary of Operasi Lallang , an ISA dragnet which saw the arrest of 107 people and the temporary closure of three newspapers in 1987.

Negotiations

Police had earlier blocked the convoy at about 3km from the camp, stationing three police trucks and one Federal Reserve Unit truck. One two-star officer, wearing the name tag 'HR Adnan', had given orders for the crowd to disperse within five minutes.

Arutchelvan and members of Parliament Mahfuz Omar, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Azmin Ali then tried to negotiate with the police to allow them through, following which PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali, Mahfuz and families of the detainees were allowed to proceed.

However, the delegates did not hand in the memorandum as the camp authorities allowed only one of them to enter.

Meanwhile AFP quoted Suaram co-ordinator Yap Swee Seng as saying that the "riot police were used to intimidate and subsequently to chase away the protestors".

"Police acted without any provocation," he added.