A 24-year-old student was arrested under Section 73 (1) of the Internal Security Act (ISA) at around 11.30am today.

Khairul Anuar Ahmad Zainuddin was detained at the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur at 9.30am while accompanying six student activists who were told to present themselves there in connection with an anti-ISA demonstration in front of the National Mosque last June 8.

Later, more than 10 police officers took Khairul to his residence in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, and raided the place. They confiscated printed materials, video compact discs (VCD), a computer, boxes and bags.

"We are arresting him under the ISA for being a threat to national security," said one of the police officer who refused to be named.

Khairul was then driven away in a white Proton Wira, handcuffed and accompanied by two police officers in the backseat.

When contacted, officials both at the Dang Wangi police station and the city police headquarters could not confirm the arrest. Officers at the Bukit Aman police headquarters could not be reached.

Show-cause letter

Khairul, an electrical engineering student at Institut Kemahiran Mara (IKM), had been served a show-cause letter on June 25, which among others accused him of "being involved in a reformasi motivational workshop intended to spur reformists to carry out plans to overthrow the government via street demonstrations".

The letter, issued by IKM authorities, stated that the charges were based on information provided by the police Special Branch.

Khairul has also been accused of receiving orders from Keadilan's youth exco to rally varsity students to participate in illegal demonstrations sponsored by the reformasi movement.

"You and 10 other Malays youths have also showed open support for the protest against the closure of SJK (C) Damansara.

"You were also present at a secret meeting with the reformasi group and Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to discuss street demonstrations to corrode the people's faith in the government," the show-cause letter from IKM stated.

'An abduction'

Following his arrest, Khairul's legal counsel, Latheefah Koya told malaysiakini that he had been denied his rights.

"It was clearly an abduction. He was just picked up with the police saying that he was needed for questioning and they just took him away," Latheefah said.

In an immediate reaction, the Students Against ISA Movement (GMMI) called for the immediate release of Khairul, slamming his arrest as a form of "harassment of students".

"We reject the police action as it was high-handed and done without conducting detailed investigations," said GMMI secretariat representative Syahrir Mahmood in a strongly-worded statement.

"The rights of an individual are to be respected and any form of harassment or systematic threats towards student leaders should be stopped," he said.

In a related development, human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) said that three students from the International Islamic University Malaysia (UIAM) were called in by the university's authorities to provide statements on the launching of an anti-ISA campaign on the campus last May.

On April 10, the police initiated a dragnet that placed 10 reformasi activists under the ISA, which allows detention without trial, for attempting to overthrow the government "through militant means".

Six have since been sent to the Kamunting detention centre while four more have been released.

Lecturer's house raided

Meanwhile, yesterday, eight plainclothes police officers, led by an ASP Lee from the city police headquarters, raided the residence of a lecturer with a private college, at 2.30pm.

A source told malaysiakini that the police searched and examined the bedroom, kitchen, toilet and the compound of the house for 45 minutes.

The police also checked a computer, printed a few articles from it and confiscated them.

The raid was said to be in connection with a false issue of Varsiti 2001, the annual magazine of Universiti Malaya's student council.

The lecturer was a student leader at Universiti Malaya.