More protest against Malaysian detention law

About one hundred people have staged a demonstration outside the Kamunting prison camp in northern Malaysia in protest against the detention of four opposition politicians without trial. 

Demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans as riot police looked on; the protest ended peacefully. 

The men being held at Kamunting include two of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's key opponents, Mohamed Ezam Noor and Tian Chua. 

They were accused of plotting violent anti-government protests, and they were jailed for two years under a harsh detention law which dates back to the times when Malaysia was a British colony. 

A BBC correspondent in the region says the demonstration is the latest in a growing campaign against the law, and it comes at a difficult time for Dr Mahathir. 

Our correspondent says the prime minister's autocratic leadership is attracting growing criticism in the country, and the government's resort to the colonial law has met with international disapproval.