Rights activists fear that allies of Anwar Ibrahim will be kept behind bars
Lawyers, rights activists and opposition leaders have launched a campaign to pressure the Malaysian government to release six leading government critics, who have been jailed without trial since May 2001.
The campaign, called Countdown to June 1 - the prisoners' due date for release - includes media and e-mail statements, signature campaigns and public gatherings.
The six prisoners were crucial in mobilising public support for a four-party opposition alliance that routed the government in Malay-majority constituencies in recent polls. They have been accused of plotting to overthrow the government through violent means.
The detainees' two-year detention order expires on June 1 and police are expected to either release them or detain them for another two years.
Five of them are top officers of the National Justice Party of jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. The party has accused the government of using the Internal Security Act (ISA) to arrest its leaders arbitrarily and to curtail political freedom and undermine the wave of opposition following Anwar's arrest and jailing in 1998.
