UN calls for Malaysia to release ex-opposition leader

By P Prem Kumar

KUALA LUMPUR

The family of imprisoned Malaysian former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim demanded his release Monday after a United Nations committee labelled his detention "illegal" and "arbitrary".

Ibrahim's daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar described the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's statement as "a clear and unequivocal message to Prime Minister Najib Razak".

"[The development] ensures that the sharp decline in human rights under [Razak's] administration will not go unnoticed,” said Izzah Anwar -- also the People's Justice Party vice president -- in her own statement.