Reform movement Aliran today condemned the arrest of 48 people during an anti-ISA gathering in Kamunting, Perak, saying the arrests were politically motivated.

Aliran president P Ramakrishnan said the arrests showed that the authorities were determined "to throttle whatever little democratic space that may be available".

"There is no doubt that these arrests are politically initiated to discourage future expressions of concerns," he said in a statement.

He also called upon the authorities to respect the rule of law and release all the 48 immediately.

Police today arrested 48 people, including three media practitioners who were there in the course of their duty, near the Kamunting Detention Centre.

About three hundred people had gathered there this morning to submit a memorandum to the centre's administrators to express concern over the welfare and health of the ISA detainees.

The gathering was also to commemorate 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.

However, the police blocked the road, moved in to disperse the group and later made the arrests.

Ramakrishnan said Aliran received information that the people were detained despite having agreed to disperse in accordance with the police order.

"We are informed that some of the organisers had spoken to the police and agreed to disperse. Accordingly these organisers told those at the gathering to disperse and go back. Many did while others went to the nearby shops for refreshments."

"It was at this juncture that they were detained. These people did not defy the police; they did not cause any traffic jam, and they did not pose any danger to national security."