KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia has refused calls to free a Hindu rights activist who was jailed last year under an internal-security law, even though he was elected this month to parliament in a show of voter anger at his imprisonment.
Lawyer M. Manoharan was one of five Hindu activists detained without charge after they organised an anti-government protest by more than 10,000 ethnic Indians in November. An opposition party later nominated Manoharan for the March 8 poll, which saw a huge protest vote by Malaysia's Indian minority.