BELOW ARE SEVERAL IMPORTANT ARTICLES WHICH CAME OUT IN MALAYSIAKINI WHICH WILL GIVE YOU UPDATE LEADING TO THE ARREST AND RELEASE
1. Court bans Protes from protesting Jan 26, 08, 12.54pm.
2. Crackdown at KLCC: Dozens picked up Jan 26, 08 2:04pm
3. PSM’s Aru to be charged, others expected to go free Jan 26, 08 10:12pm
4. Protesters’ long wait for remand hearing| Jan 27, 08 2:37pm
5. Key players to be charged tomorrow Jan 27, 08 9:42pm
6. Opposition condemns mass arrests| Jan 28, 08 10:53am
7. 35 charged with illegal assembly | Jan 28, 08 3:36pm
Court bans Protes from protesting
Andrew Ong | Jan 26, 08 12:54pm
Police have obtained a restraining order from the court to stop Coalition Against Inflation (Protes) from gathering at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre tomorrow.
The order was obtained by the Dang Wangi police chief ACP Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman from the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court. Those in breach of the order can be cited for contempt.
According to Zulkarnain, the court order names five representatives of
Protes - Dr Hatta Ramli, Tian Chua, S Arutchelvan, Simon Ooi and Ronnie Liew - as being banned from the planned rally.
The order also extends to any “associate member” of Protes and anyone suspected of participating in the rally, he added.
“If they ignore the order, they can be detained immediately,” said Zulkarnain, according to Bernama.
Zulkarnain said the two restricted zone is within a one-kilometre radius of the KLCC building emcompassing Jalan Ampang, Jalan Lumba Kuda, Jalan P Ramlee and the KLCC Assyakirin Mosque.
Meet at Ampang Park
The court order was the third of its kind following similar orders to ban the Nov 25 Hindraf rally and the Dec 11 Bersih gathering at Parliament.
The police are also expected to mount numerous roadblocks in order to screen vehicles entering the city and weed out potential “troublemakers”.
Organisers for the rally are however unperturbed by the latest developments and have vowed to proceed with the gathering.
“We would meet up at Ampang Park and try to walk to KLCC from there,” said Arutchelvan, when contacted.
The rally today was meant to protest against rising prices of goods and services as well as to protest against an impending hike in fuel prices.
Crackdown at KLCC: Dozens picked up
Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | Jan 26, 08 2:04pm
More than two dozen individuals have been detained by the police near the Kuala Lumpur City Centre ahead of a protest against price hikes organised by the Coalition Against Inflation (Protes).
At about 2.45pm, seven PAS’ party volunteers, including one woman, were picked up outside the KLCC Jalan Ampang entrance and brought to the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters for questioning.
Almost simultaneously, near the Ampang Park LRT station, another five women and three men were also detained in connection with the rally.
Malaysiakini reporter Syed Jamal Zahiid was also picked up. He was detained while questioning a police officer over several arrests near the Ampang Park area.
Malaysiakini office has contacted Dang Wangi OCPD Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman to vouch for the identity of Syed Jamal who then assured that the journalist would be released after giving his statement.
Police had earlier turned out in their hundreds to disperse the gathering at the Twin Towers, which were barricaded and under heavy guard.
At about 3.30pm, about 200 Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) supporters marching from Ampang Park towards KLCC were locked in a standoff with the police.
Ten minutes later, at least 12 PSM supporters and leaders were arrested after a minor scuffle with the police.
Police have declared the rally today illegal and have obtained a rare court order banning people from attending.
Commenting on the court order, PSM president Dr Nasir Hashim said the police were using the courts to curtail fundamental liberties.
“It’s a very funny court order. People are just walking around and they are being taken away. I think the lawyers should challenge this because we cannot express your grievances in this country,” he said.
’The leadership is paranoid’
“We’re not causing any problems, we’re just saying that prices are going up and the poor are hurting,” PSM chairman Mohamed Nasir told AFP before he was taken away by police.
“The leadership is paranoid, there’s no democracy,” he said.
Police refused to say why the Malaysiakini reporter, who had been asking an officer for information, was taken away. The government has refused to give Malaysiakini staff the press pass which journalists need to access official events.
“I’m definitely disturbed by this. It shows that police are not respecting the rights of journalists to do their job,” said Malaysiakini’s editor in chief Steven Gan.
“They should have released him as soon as he identified himself as a journalist,” he told AFP.
Puzzled tourists milled on the edges of the protest, watching the riot police who stood in formation as a helicopter buzzed overhead.
“It’s pretty crazy,” said Jon Iliffe, a British businessman on a work trip to Malaysia. “It’s a bit strange that they’re not allowed to protest and say what they want.”
Watch the 7-minute video here
PSM’s Aru to be charged, others expected to go free
Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | Jan 26, 08 10:12pm
Of the some 60 people who were detained by the police for taking part in the Protes rally today, only PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan has been placed in the city detention centre in the old Pudu prison.
The politician and social activist is expected to be charged for violating a court order which bans the staging of the rally today.
As at 10pm tonight, half of those picked up have given their statement to the police. The group included Malaysiakini journalist Syed Jaymal Zahiid. They are now holding out in the canteen within the police headquarters and are expected to be released later.
Already, 12 have been given the green light to go home but they chose to stay with the waiting group as a sign of solidarity.
About 45 are still having their statements taken. The delay is due to the process which began only at 8pm.
Arrests began at 2pm
More than 60 individuals were detained by the police near the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and Ampang Park shopping complex ahead of a protest against price hikes organised by Protes.
Protes consists of several non-governmental organisations and opposition political parties PAS, PKR, PSM and DAP.
Police had declared the rally today as illegal and obtained a court order yesterday banning five people, in particular, from attending.
About 200 police personnel were present at KLCC and Ampang Park, their numbers equaling if not exceeding the protesters who turned up.
Starting at about 2pm, five women and four men were picked up near the Ampang Park LRT Station and brought to the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters (IPK) for questioning in connection with the rally.
Those picked up included PAS Wanita leader Aiman Athirah Al-Jundi and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan.
Arutchelvan, who was taken away in a separate car, is one of five people named in the Kuala Lumpur magistrate’s court order prohibiting their presence within a one-kilometre radius of KLCC and the nearby Al-Shakirin mosque.
Before he was arrested, he was shown a copy of the court order by one of the police officers and told he was being brought to the police headquarters for questioning.
This led Arutchelvan to question why he was being brought to the police station when the court order was not an arrest warrant.
Like Arutchelvan, PKR’s Tian Chua was also shown a copy of the court order before being taken away.
Contacted later, Chua said the arrest was wrong on several grounds, including the fact that his name and identification card number
contained in the order were wrong.
“For one thing, there was no arrest warrant. Secondly, I was not even within the area specified in the court order from which I was
prohibited,” he told Malaysiakini from inside the police headquarters.
He had blasted the government for cracking down on social and political activists decrying the price hikes when it should instead have spent its energies on formulating and coming forward to the public with concrete measures to tackle inflation.
At about the same time, at least 100 members and supporters of PSM and grassroots organisation Jerit arrived by bus and had marched from Ampang Park towards KLCC. They were led, among others, by Jerit leader Y Kohila.and PSM central committee member V Selvam.
Upon reaching the area in front of Avenue K opposite the towers, the group was blocked by a barrier of police officers who had locked arms and prevented them from proceeding any further.
Teenagers and elderly women were seen among the PSM-Jerit group who were caught in the ensuing scuffle that occurred between the two groups. Both activists and police officers - led by Dang Wangi OCPD Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman - screamed at each other to “stop pushing”.
One of the ‘casualties’ of the melee was one woman who said her right shoulder was in pain after being struck during the pushing and shoving. She refused, however, to be brought by ambulance to the hospital for medical treatment.
OCPD barks
Orders by Zulkarnain for the activists to sit down where they were standing were ignored. Instead, the latter crossed the road towards Avenue K, at which point Zulkarnain barked orders for their arrests.
“Drag them back (to this side) into the trucks! They were rough against us, be rough against them!” he was heard telling the police officers.
From the scores of PSM supporters and leaders who were arrested included Selvam. Several of the other activists were seen being kicked and struck as they were taken by force by police officers.
This prompted Kohila, speaking to reporters as the group dispersed in the direction of Ampang Park, to decry the state of democracy and freedom of speech in the country.
“We cannot do anything in this country! We cannot even talk about our grievances! We cannot even stand (up for rights)!” she screamed.
Met later, Zulkarnain denied any excessive force had been used against the protesters.
“You saw how I told them to sit down and not to proceed. They acted rough, so we were (only) equally rough,” he said.
He also said those picked up were only being brought to “assist investigations”.
By about 4 pm, most of the police personnel and those protesters still on Jalan Ampang had left.
Protesters’ long wait for remand hearing
Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | Jan 27, 08 2:37pm
About 100 people have started gathering outside the Pudu remand centre in Kuala Lumpur, calling for the release of some 50 people detained yesterday for taking part in a protest against price hikes.
Those detained - including Malaysiakini journalist Syed Jaymal Zahiid - are expected to face a remand hearing later today.
Lawyers acting for the detainees however are saying that the have not been given sufficient access to their clients.
They are threatening to stage a walkout when the magistrate arrives for the remand hearing if they are not given time to talk to those detained.
“What is the point if we are given access only for a few minutes before the remand hearing? We can’t get proper instructions from our clients,” said lawyer Mohamed Hanipa Maidin.
Twelve released unconditionally
Last night the police released 12 people, including a 16-year-old child and a pregnant woman. They were released unconditionally without being charged.
Meanwhile AFP said that the police refused to say why Syed Jaymal, who had been asking an officer for information, was taken away. The government has refused to give Malaysiakini staff the press pass which journalists need to access official events.
“I’m definitely disturbed by this. It shows that police are not respecting the rights of journalists to do their job,” said Malaysiakini’s editor in chief Steven Gan.
“They should have released him as soon as he identified himself as a journalist,” he told AFP.
The protest - the latest in an unprecedented series of street rallies - had been aimed at highlighting public anger over rising prices of food and fuel, ahead of elections expected to be held in March.
Police, who had warned the protest was illegal, turned out in their hundreds to disperse the gathering of about 100 people at the Twin Towers, which were barricaded and under heavy guard.
Key players to be charged tomorrow
Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | Jan 27, 08 9:42pm
Remand hearing for the 47 people arrested at the Protes rally yesterday and held in Pudu jail are still continuing as at 9pm tonight.
The first five who were placed under 24-hour remand from the time of their arrest yesterday are PAS leaders Mat Sabu, Dr Hatta Ramli, PSM’s S Arutchelvan, PKR’s Tian Chua and Simon Ooi. Their names were specified in the court order banning the rally against price hikes yesterday.
They are expected to be brought to the Magistrate’s Court in Jalan Duta to be charged tomorrow. Most of those on remand today are expected to be charged for illegal assembly while the key five Protes leaders will also be charged for breaching the court order which bans them from being in the vicinity (KLCC) of the assembly yesterday.
At press time, Malaysiakini journalist Syed Jaymal Zahiid has not faced the magistrate yet. His fate is still unknown but Malaysiakini has sought the assistance of lawyer Ameer Hamzah to see to Syed’s legal needs while under police detention.
Police reports lodged
After he was picked up for questioning a police officer at the KLCC on the police swoop of protesters, Syed Jaymal lodged a police report alleging that he was punched on the head and had his hair pulled.
According to Syed’s report, they were walking to the police trucks in groups when one of them pushed him. He told them not to push as they were all handcuffed together. They shouted at him, he shouted back. Then one officer punched his head and another pulled his hair.
The journalist also lodged another report for unlawful detention.
Yesterday’s police operation was led by Dang Wangi OCPD Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman. When protesters and policemen were caught in a scuffle at one stage, both sides screamed at each other to “stop pushing”.
The OCPD was heard ‘barking’ to his men to arrest those who ignored his instructions to sit down and remain where they were. When the protesters started crossing the road towards Avenue K, Zulkarnain ordered their arrests.
“Drag them back (to this side) into the trucks! They were rough against us, be rough against them!” he was heard telling the police officers.
Last night, 12 of those picked up were given the green light to go home but they chose to stay with the waiting group as a sign of solidarity.
The protest against price hikes organised by Protes, consisting of several non-governmental organisations and opposition political parties was meant to be a peaceful assembly.
As such, the organisers did not apply for a police permit but had only informed the police of the event.
Opposition condemns mass arrests
AFP | Jan 28, 08 10:53am
Opposition parties have condemnned the arrest of 56 people at a demonstration against rising prices, saying it was a sign of government paranoia ahead of general elections.
Twelve of the 56 have been released but the remainder - including Malaysiakini journalist Syed Jaymal Zahiid - are expected to be charged with illegal assembly today.
Hundreds of police surrounded Kuala Lumpur’s iconic Petronas Twin Towers to prevent the protest from going ahead on Saturday, and hauled away demonstrators in trucks.
As they were driven off some shouted “Reformasi” or “Reform”, the catchcry of dissident former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim who was sacked and jailed in 1998.
The rally - the latest in an unprecedented series of street protests - was aimed at highlighting public anger over rising food and fuel prices ahead of polls expected to be held in March.
“The brutal suppression of protesters... is a sign that the government is at a loss to resolve the fundamental problem of the sky-rocketing cost of living,” Tian Chua, from Anwar’s PKR, said in a statement.
“It is an over-reaction when more than 1,000 police officers were mobilised to stop the demonstration that merely expresses the people’s discontent on impending hikes in fuel prices and other essential goods and services,” said Tian, who is one of those being held.
A police over-reaction
Syed Jaymal, a journalist from news website Malaysiakini, one of the few independent media organisations in the country, was also caught up in the dragnet as he attempted to interview police.
“I’m definitely disturbed by this. It shows that police are not respecting the rights of journalists to do their job,” said the website’s editor in chief Steven Gan.
The fundamentalist Islamic opposition party PAS also had several of its senior members detained.
“It is an over-rection. They just want to get together and protest about the prices that people are facing, that’s all,” said PAS member Zulkifli Sulong.
“The price of food is an important issue in this coming general election. A lot of people are sufering because of price hikes. So they don’t want to give a chance to let people expose their grievances about it.”
Malaysia’s government has been infuriated by the street rallies, which began breaking out in November, targeting issues including electoral reform and rights for the nation’s ethnic Indians.
In December it detained five ethnic Indian activists under draconian internal security legislation that allows for indefinite detention without trial.
35 charged with illegal assembly
Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | Jan 28, 08 3:36pm
Thirty-five people were today charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with taking part in an illegal assembly on Saturday.
Among them, Parti Sosialis Malaysia pro-tem secretary-general S Arutchelvan also faces a charge of violating a court order which barred him and four others from being within a one-kilometre radius of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and the nearby Masjid Assyakirin.
The order was obtained by Dang Wangi police chief ACP Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman from the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court to stop the Coalition Against Inflation (Protes) from gathering at KLCC.
Apart from Arutchelvan, the other 34 persons were accused of being supporters of Protes. All 35 claimed trial and have been released on RM1,000 bail.
Session’s Court judge Mohamad Sekeri Mamat also imposed an additional bail condition - which had earlier been proposed by deputy public prosecutor Mohd Yusof Zainal Abidin - that the defendants must not participate in any ‘illegal assembly’.
This was strongly objected by counsels Amer Hamzah Arshad, Edmun Bon and Jonson Chong, who challenged the relevance of such a condition and argued that it violated such principles of law as the presumption of innocence.
However, Mohamad Sekeri said the defendants may appeal to the Kuala Lumpur High Court if they were not satisfied with his decision. Hearing has been set from June 16-18.
Malaysiakini journalist charged
In the same court, Malaysiakini journalist Syed Jaymal Zahiid was charged with obstructing Chief Inspector Effendi Abdul Rahman from performing his duty when he questioned the police officer on the arrests of the protesters.
Syed Jaymal claimed trial and has been released on RM1,000 bail. His case will be jointly heard with the rest.
All 36 were remanded at the Pudu jail in Jalan Hang Tuah after their arrest at various points near Jalan Ampang on Saturday.
Twelve people were released without any conditions on the night following their arrest.
Last night, 10 others who had been arrested - including PKR information chief Tian Chua and PAS treasurer Dr Hatta Ramli - were released after the police’ remand applications against them were denied by the magistrate.
Both Chua and Hatta had been named along with Arutchelvan in the magistrate court’s restraining order.
Their release was said to have been due to contradictions and other serious flaws in the investigating officers’ reports on their arrests.
Among them, Chua was found to have been picked up despite being outside the zone from which the five were banned.