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New dissent arrests in Malaysia Malaysian arrests draw protests
(about 16 hours later)
An opposition member of parliament and a journalist have been arrested in Malaysia amid growing fears of a crackdown by the government. Police in Malaysia are still holding an opposition politician and an online blogger after a wave of arrests to try to crack down on dissent.
Police detained the two women late on Friday, who are are being held under Malaysia's internal security act. Three people were detained on Friday under the country's stringent internal security act - which means they can be held indefinitely, without trial.
The stringent measure means they can be detained indefinitely, without trial. A vigil has been held near Kuala Lumpur for the politician still being held.
The arrests follow the detention of a prominent online anti-government campaigner and continuing opposition efforts to destabilise the government. Supporters gathered in a quiet residential backstreet outside their party HQ to light candles and pray.
In the space of 24 hours three people have been arrested - all of them deemed a threat to malaysia's national security. Many of them were still shell-shocked.
All of them can be detained indefinitely. They shouted "free Teresa" and "abolish the ISA".
Opposition buoyant Power struggle
The high-profile blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin was picked up first. He has been a long-time critic of the government. Teresa Kok is the member of parliament who was detained on suspicion of stoking racial tension, a very sensitive subject in multi-ethnic Malaysia.
I think the Pandora's box has opened... The government is going back on its word Raja Petra class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7612845.stm">Blogger's detention sparks fears But her supporters believe she is a victim of the bigger picture.
His arrest was apparently due to blasphemous articles on his website. Late on Friday a journalist for a Chinese-language newspaper was taken in, as well as an opposition MP. The government here is struggling to stay in power and is using the draconian powers of the much-criticised internal security act to put critics in jail and send out a strong message.
Both women have been accused of stoking racial tension. One man told me it is a desperate measure:
The arrests come after a row over comments made by a politician from the Malay majority. He called the country's Chinese minority "squatters" and "immigrants". "I think they are panicking for whatever they are doing now, they are running out of options, and they are trying whatever way that they can to maintain their power."
But the bigger picture in Malaysia is of a government struggling to stay in power. The opposition won historic levels of support in a general election earlier this year. The opposition won historic levels of support in a general election earlier this year and since then it has been threatening to bring down the government by persuading parliamentarians to defect.
Since then it has been threatening to bring down the government by persuading parliamentarians to defect. It has huge momentum behind it, and its leaders say they will not be intimidated.
More arrests are expected over the weekend, and some observers think this could be a repeat of a major crackdown in 1987. "The government must be deluded if they think that they can break us because we will not be broken, we will not be bent," said senior opposition politician Lim Guan Eng.
Then the government ordered dozens of arrests and several newspapers were shut to try to quell dissent. "We will fight on because the people's destiny is that stake."
A cabinet minister justified one of the arrests by saying the journalist had been detained for her own safety.
She has now been released but the two others remain in jail, indefinitely.
Malaysia has faced brisk condemnation from abroad.
In Washington, the US state department demanded an explanation.
But the government in Kuala Lumpur is fighting to stay afloat, and it will not go down without a fight.