Malaysia's Anwar condemns use of security lawKUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Five ethnic Indians held under a Malaysianlaw that allows detention without trial should be charged in courtimmediately to avoid the risk of rights abuse, Malaysian oppositionfigure Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday.Authorities have said the activists, members of a group that staged amassive anti-government protest last month, were detained on Thursdayfor up to two years on the grounds that their actions had threatenednational security.The group, the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) alarmed thegovernment by bringing more than 10,000 ethnic Indians onto thestreets of the capital to complain of racial discrimination.Anwar, a former deputy prime minister who was once himself locked upunder the colonial-era law originally designed to fight communists,said the legislation was easy to abuse."We are, as a principle, against the Internal Security Act and the useof the Act against anyone," he told reporters."We have evidence, we have experience of the abuse of the Act againstpolitical personalities and civil society leaders throughout the yearsafter independence."Anwar was himself beaten by the then police chief during his owndetention under the Act in 1998, for leading anti-government protestsdemanding political reform in the wake of being sacked by former PrimeMinister Mahathir Mohamad.Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said the government had been verypatient with the Hindraf group, and acted only after having given it asufficient chance to conform to the law."The public wanted the government to take a stern action much earlierbut we were very patient and tolerant," state news agency Bernamaquoted Najib as saying. "When the ISA was invoked, it should not havecome as a surprise to anyone."The Hindraf rally was one of two mass protests last month. A separatecrowd of around 10,000 people had earlier turned out on the streets ofthe capital to demand electoral reforms, amid expectations of a snappoll by March 2008.But the Indian rally, though largely peaceful, aroused deep concernswithin the government, and also among many ordinary Malaysians,because of the country's history of tense and sometimes explosivelyviolent race relations.In 2001, five people were killed and 37 wounded in riots betweenmajority ethnic Malays and Indians that began after an Indian kickedover a chair at a Malay wedding. In 1969, hundreds were killed inrioting between Malays and ethnic Chinese.But Anwar said he believed more arrests could follow, because PrimeMinister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi appeared to have decided to take a hardline against the protesters."I am extremely -- not only disappointed, but appalled -- by themanner in which Prime Minister Abdullah is acting right now," hesaid."He has just succumbed to pressures of extremist hue. From therhetoric of the government, the prime minister and the leaders, Iwouldn't be surprised if more arrests were made."