Arrested anti-Lynas Australian activist says she is denied access to lawyer

The Lynas plant in Gebeng, Kuantan, has been the subject of many protests since it was set up. Australian Natalie Lowrey was among 16 people arrested during yesterday's protest. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, June 23, 2014.

Australian Natalie Lowrey has not been allowed to see her lawyer since Malaysian police arrested her for taking part in yesterday’s protest against Lynas Corporation's rare earth plant in Gebeng, Kuantan.

Lowrey, an international mining campaigner, said she was arrested with more than 10 others and may face deportation.

“I was arrested with a housewife, a chef, a veterinarian, a businessman, a retiree and 10 others,” she told Australian newspaper Green Left Weekly today.

“These people are everyday people that have families in Kuantan and are concerned about their future generations. This type of toxic industry does destroy lives, as seen by Asian Rare Earths refinery in Bukit Merah,” she said.

News portal Malaysiakini reported that Lowrey was denied bail and may be charged in court, although the other detainees had been allowed bail.

Kuantan OCPD Abdul Aziz Salleh told the news portal that Lowrey had abused her passport by allegedly participating in an unlawful assembly, which is an offence under Section 39(b) of the Immigration Act.

He said the authorities had the right to detain her for 14 days.

Lowrey and another Australian citizen had travelled to Malaysia to join some 1,000 anti-Lynas protesters who had gathered before the refinery yesterday in a bid to shut down its operations.

The Star Online reported today that Aziz had ordered the protesters to disperse within 10 minutes after they had assembled in front of the refinary.

The Kuantan police had obtained an order from a Magistrate's Court on Saturday prohibiting anyone from coming within 20 metres from the refinery.

Green Left Weekly said the peaceful protest saw 16 people arrested, two activists subjected to police force and beaten, with one remaining in the Intensive Care Unit in a hospital in Kuantan.

Concerns about Lynas's disposal of radioactive materials began in 2011 after residents feared that the plant would affect some 700,000 people living within a 30km radius.

According to earlier reports, the refinery known as Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) produces a by-product known as Thorium (TH). Thorium is a radioactive element that causes cancer and is easily transported through wind and water.

The Australian-owned plant's ability to obtain a temporary licence, despite not revealing a waste-disposal facility, has enraged activists who have opposed the refinery and Putrajaya’s approval for it to be set up.

- TMI