Malaysia frees Bersih leader Maria Chin amid condemnation

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIAN police on Monday freed the head of a pro-democracy group which organised a mass rally calling on Prime Minister Najib Razak to resign over a massive corruption scandal.

Maria Chin Abdullah, chair of the pro-reform NGO alliance "Bersih", was detained on Nov 18 on the eve of the rally and kept in solitary confinement. Her arrest under a law designed to combat terrorism sparked international criticism including from the US State Department. Under the law, she could have been detained for 28 days without trial.