Belgium ambassador Dr Frank Van de Craen has refuted allegations that the human rights of a Malaysian national have been violated by his country's authorities.

A Srimalar has been detained in prison since last December and was charged in court last Wednesday for alleged possession of forged documents and involvement in human trafficking.

Her family members here claimed she has been denied her civil liberties as she has been detained for four and a half months on mere suspicion without bail.

Srimalar's brother, A Gunasegaran, through lawyer P Uthayakumar, lodged a formal complaint with the Belgium embassy in Kuala Lumpur last Friday, raising eight questions.

In a reply to Uthayakumar, Van de Craen said it was "obvious" that Srimalar was travelling with forged documents as this was "irrefutably" established by the Belgian border police.

"Belgian border police were then also faced with prima facie indications that Srimalar was having links with a human trafficking circle," he said in the letter, a copy of which was made available to malaysiakini .

Van de Craen added that normally, cases of illegal entry would be handled with speedy deportation, but that suspected human trafficking cases are taken more seriously.

"(Her case) was too serious to allow bail, basically because of the risk of the detainee leaving the country and escaping her eventual sentence," he explained in the letter.

While agreeing that pre-trial detention amounts to deprivation of liberty, Van de Craen said that, should a jail sentence be meted out, the duration which has been served would be subtracted.

In the case of an acquittal, there can be financial compensation. He also listed the process of appeal in the Belgium judicial process.

'Her choice'

He said contrary to Uthayakumar's assumption, Srimalar was told the grounds of arrest and her rights as a detainee under Belgium law - this is based on official documents.

Also contrary to the lawyer's allegations, Van de Craen said Srimalar was never denied communication with her next-of-kin and was "at any moment" able to contact the Malaysian embassy in Brussels to inform them of her detention.

"She chose not to do so," he said, adding that Belgium is not obliged to inform the Malaysian embassy of the arrest of a citizen as Malaysia is not on the list of countries to which information should be provided on "compulsory" basis.

(Gunasegaran was reported to have only found out about Srimalar's detention when she called him from prison after four months. On May 11, malaysiakini reported that Van de Craen had arranged for Srimalar and Gunasegaran to talk via telephone for 20 minutes.)

Srimalar was also granted legal aid within 24 hours and was produced before an "investigating judge" within 72 hours.

Van de Craen also told Uthayakumar that recourse to international avenues - namely the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the World Court in Hague - in which the latter intends to pursue the case are only possible when the national process has been exhausted.

Should the Malaysian government initiate proceedings against the Belgium government, he said evidence of human rights abuse - in this case "completely unfounded" - must be presented.

"Frankly, envisaging to call upon the International Court of Justice is so heavily over-reacting and so far-fetched, that it does not deserve any further comment," said Van de Craen in closing his three-page letter.

Memo to Wisma Putra

Uthayakumar, when contacted, insisted that the claim that Srimalar was involved in human trafficking was unfounded, based on information provided by her relatives.

"Three others allegedly arrested with her have been deported. Why didn't they deport Srimalar? If you (Belgium authorities) are suspicious with her intentions of entry, then deport her immediately at the point of entry. Matter solved!" said Uthayakumar.

"The points raised by ambassador are a mere allegation which are unsubstantiated and unproven in the court of law, which is contrary to the legal principle that one is innocent until proven guilty.

"As it stands, Srimalar has been detained for over four and a half months without even having been found guilty in a country which - we are given to understand - practices the highest standards of human rights and is a model human rights country."

In another development, Police Watch and Human Rights Committee co-ordinator B Chandran represented Srimalar's family in submitting a memorandum to the foreign affairs ministry yesterday, urging its intervention.

The family asked the ministry to confirm whether Srimalar held a valid Malaysian passport at the time of arrest and whether it has registered a diplomatic protest over the matter.