Former Malaysian YCW leader Ms Sarasvathy Muthu and five other activists who were detained under a harsh Malaysian security law for allegedly “preparing to wage war against the king” – through a rally calling for electoral reforms – were released late Friday afternoon, according to reports on Cardijn.info and Malaysian Insider.

The six PSM (Parti Sosialis Malaysia) members, including Member of Parliament for the northern Malaysian Sungai Siput seat, Dr Michael Devaraj Jeyakumar, were released from their detention under the Emergency Ordinance (EO), the Malaysian Insider said.

Dr Jeyakumar began a hunger strike yesterday to protest the detention without trial, his wife Mohanarani Rasiah had said.

The activists were held for allegedly being the “main movers” of the pro-democracy rally on July 9, 2011, organized by a coalition of non-governmental organizations, Bersih, Cardijn.info reports.

The six had initially been criminally charged, evidently based on their possession of T-shirts with portraits of dead or long retired Communist Party leaders. After they were released on July 2 on bail, they were immediately re-arrested under the Emergency Ordinance, Human Rights Watch said in a statement that called for their release.

Malaysia’s Emergency Ordinance permits the police to hold anyone they deem a threat to public order for 60 days. The Home Minister may extend detention for two more years, renewable indefinitely in two-year increments.

“The Malaysian government has replaced its bogus criminal charges with the hammer of preventive detention to lock away political opposition leaders,” noted Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“It’s high time that Malaysia’s leaders recognize that democratic governance means engaging with the political opposition rather than throwing them in jail,” Robertson said.

Lawyers for the detainees told Human Rights Watch that the activists had been held in solitary confinement, subjected to continual and intense interrogations, and blindfolded both in detention and during transport to meet with legal counsel.

Sarasvathy Muthu joined the YCW during the 1980s where she organized textile and food industry workers in the northern state of Perak to form a union body involved in picketing and strike. She is actively involved in local women’s rights groups networks in discussing the challenges of the female working community.

FULL STORY AND VIDEO

PSM 6 released (Malaysian Insider)

Breaking News – Malaysian activists released (Cardijn.info)

Malaysian ex-YCW Sarasvathy arrested (Cardijn.info)

Family hope that ‘Saras will come back to us soon’ (MalaysiaKini/YouTube)