AT least two bloggers, a journalist, and one opposition politician were arrested under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act (ISA) on September 12 in what media and activists are afraid may be the start of a wider crackdown ahead of an anticipated opposition push to gain control of parliament next week, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) said.

SEAPA said in a statement that Malaysia’s leading blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who is also a staunch government critic on his website “Malaysia Today,” was the first to be arrested in this week’s arrests.

Journalist Tan Hoon Cheng who works Sin Chew Daily, a Chinese-language newspaper that had recently covered a controversial outburst from a ruling party member who called the ethnic Chinese community “squatters,” was also reportedly arrested, SEAPA said quoting reports from. Malaysiakini.com.

Lawmaker Teresa Kok of the Chinese-based DAP and Deputy Chief Minister in Selangor was also arrested under the ISA, SEAPA said.

The draconian ISA law allows government to detain people without trial. It is a preventive detention law currently enforced in Malaysia.

SEAPA said that the Centre for Independent Journalists (CIJ) has already issued an urgent appeal, as it reported that another blogger, Haris Ibrahim, was arrested. Ibrahim was reportedly credited with starting a “People’s Parliament project,” which monitors the Malaysian government.

SEAPA said Malaysian media, oppositionists and activists are expressing fears that the Malaysian government may be planning more arrests.

SEAPA said that CIJ sees the recent arrests as measures that “bear a disturbing resemblance to the period in the lead-up to the Operasi Lalang in 1987,” where dozens of activists, artists, academics and politicians were detained.

“Both incidents are similar in that it relates to ongoing political crisis within (Malaysian ruling party) UMNO, but manifested as alleged racial tension by the government,” SEAPA quoting CIJ said.

SEAPA fears that this week’s arrests may be part of a wider campaign after last week’s threat to suspend Malaysian newspapers the Sin Chew Daily, The Sun — which is a free English-language daily, and Suara Keadilan which is published by the opposition.

The group said that the CIJ and the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI) have sounded the alarm over a warning issued by government to the three newspapers over coverage of the same controversy for which journalist Tan was arrested.

“Political observers fear the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which was humiliated in March elections and is now threatened by the opposition’s plans, was planning a repeat of an infamous 1987 crackdown,” SEAPA said quoting news website Malaysiakini.com.