KINI ROUNDUP Here are the key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

'Free Maria' urging intensifies

There is increasing pressure, both locally and abroad, for Putrajaya to release Bersih leader Maria Chin Abdullah from detention without trial.

Most notable was former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's presence at a vigil for Maria at Dataran Merdeka last night.

A group of international human rights organisations expressed alarm that the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) was being used against a civil society representative.

They also claimed that she was being held in a tiny cell without windows nor a bed, with lights turned on 24 hours a day.

Maria's condition moved her son Azumin Yunos to tears when he lodged a police report on his mother's detention under "inhumane" conditions.

Puad justifies Sosma use

Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zakarshi believes that Maria's "misdeeds" made her a perfect fit for Sosma.

Puad argued that Bersih 5 jeapordises public order and was foreign funded, thereby necessitating Sosma.

He added that only members of political parties registered with the Registrar of Societies were exempt from Sosma, while conveniently ignoring provisions under Section 12(b) and (c).

More audit nightmares

The Auditor-General's Report 2015 (Series 2) was released yesterday and, as Malaysians would come to expect, it contained a long list of complaints.

For example, the audit department discovered that the Federal Land Development Authority’s (Felda) procurement contracts worth RM148.42 million were signed without proper authorisation between 2013 and 2014.

Some of these deals were signed by the director of Felda's land management department, although only Felda's general manager is allowed to do so.

Then, there were complaints about how the Royal Malaysian Customs Department has been slow in processing special sales tax refunds.

It found that even eight months after the closing date for applications on Sept 30, 2015, only 1,863 (73.3 percent) of the claims had been processed.

On the flip side, the Audit Department praised the Inland Revenue Board for its efficiency in imposing travel bans on tax evaders.

At the time of the audit, a total of 128,165 tax dodgers had been slapped with travel bans.