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Malaysia detains Australian lawmaker

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Malaysia has detained an Australian lawmaker, who reportedly was to meet with several Malaysian opposition officials ahead of the country’s general elections.

Nick Xenophon, an independent Senator, was taken into custody at the international airport near the capital Kuala Lumpur upon his arrival from Melbourne on Saturday.

“At this stage I’ve been told I’m not allowed entry and I have to be on the next flight home,” Xenophon said.

Xenophon was told by police that he was a “security risk and I had to be deported.”

Xenophone had planned to meet with Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as well as a cabinet minister and electoral authorities to discuss polling transparency issues next week.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Bob Carr describe the move by Malaysian government as “surprising and disappointing” saying his country is in touch with Malaysia’s foreign and home ministers and is seeking Xenophone’s “swift release” from custody.

“Senator Xenophon’s detention is a surprising and disappointing act from a country with which Australia routinely maintains strong diplomatic relations,” Carr said in a statement.>

The Malaysian government is yet to comment on the circumstances surrounding Xenophon’s detention but some reports said the Australian outspoken senator appeared to be under the “Security Offences Act”.

Malaysia’s Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, or SOSMA, was introduced last year to replace the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA), which allowed indefinite detention without trial.

Amnesty International said on February 7 that SOSMA failed to meet international human rights standards by “allowing police to detain suspects incommunicado for 48 hours, increasing the risk of torture, and by allowing detention without charge or access to courts for up to 28 days.”

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