KUALA LUMPUR: The 11 ethnic Uighur Muslims were released from Government  custody as they had not broken any Malaysian laws, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

On Friday (Oct 12), it was reported that the Chinese government said it resolutely opposed Malaysia’s decision to release the 11 ethnic Uighur Muslims from detention and send them to Turkey, ignoring China’s request to hand them to Beijing.

The Uighurs were initially detained and charged with illegally entering Malaysia after breaking out of the Thai prison last November.

However, it was reported that Malaysian prosecutors dropped charges against the Uighurs on humanitarian grounds and allowed them to travel to Turkey.