Embarassing conduct by government in dealing with Malaysian rights activist

Go meet the Prime Minister to raise your grievances during the Hari Raya open house - not right.

Go to meet and hand over letter to Prime Minister at his office - get arrested and detained..

She was among 11 individuals arrested yesterday evening when they accompanied her daughter, Vwashnnavvi, 6, to the Prime Minister’s Office to deliver a handwritten letter.

In it, Vwasshnnavvi invited the prime minister to her family’s ‘open house’ during Deepavali celebrations and appealed for the release of all Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees.

Police obtained a three-day remand order against the remaining 10 detainees, from Kajang magistrate Nurdiana Mohd Nazari this afternoon.- Malaysiakini, 24/10/2008 - Shanti: I stayed in police station in protest

When some ordinary Malaysians go to the Prime Minister's office to hand over a letter, they get arrested and detained - but then when some MPs go hand over a signature petition, nothing untoward happens..

A group of Members of Parliament turned up at the Prime Minister’s Office here on Friday to hand over the first batch of signatures in support for a motion to discuss repealing the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The five Pakatan Rakyat members -- Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan and Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng of the DAP, Selayang MP William Leong and Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne of PKR, and Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Maria Mahmud of PAS -- arrived at the office around 11.10am.

The signatures were handed over to the Premier’s senior private secretary, Datuk Ahmad Yaakob. - Star, 24/10/2008 - MPs submit ‘ISA letter’ to PM’s office

Why are the Malaysians being discriminated - Why are these Malaysian Indians being discriminated against?

Police Watch Malaysia coordinator S Jayathas, who was also held, claimed that they had been told that they were part of an illegal assembly for having gathered near the entrance of the building.

“We were trying to obtain permission from the security guards for Vwaishhnnavi to submit her letter. They said that we were from Hindraf, but we insisted that we were 'concerned Indians' who were accompanying Vwaishnnavi,” Jayathas when contacted. - Malaysiakini, 23/10/2008 - Uthaya's niece, 11 others held

Will these kind of disgraceful attempts to suppress dissent and legitimate protest by the government work? Will the "Makkal Sakti" movement be silenced?

The used water cannons and tear gas on them..

The used violence on them...

They arrested and detained them...

They put 5 of their alleged leaders under ISA more than 10 months ago...

They tried to play them as being 'un-islamic' and 'ill-behaved..'

They made HINDRAF into an unlawful society..

They arrested 10-11 for trying to hand a letter to the PM at his office..

However, the magistrate only extended remand to three days till Sunday when hearing resumed in the afternoon following a lunch break. This means that the 10 will be able to celebrate Deepavali with their families on Monday. - Malaysiakini, 24/10/2008 - Child, mother freed, 10 remanded

I just hope that the police do not go and apply for further remand - and this may mean that will have to spend Deepavali in a police lock-up...

How long does it take to take a statement - which I believe they will most likely all say that the only statement they are going to give is 'whatever I want to say, I will say in court...".

What else? Take their fingerprint....take their photo...

Identification parade (kawat cam)... really not necessary...since they were arrested at the scent of the alleged crime...

That is generally what investigation entails - and all this could have been done in a few hours without even requiring an application for further remand..

Further, I am sure that these are all Malaysians with a valid address - hence there really was no need to even keep them in the lock-up. They could have been released on police bail -- requiring them to be present at this time or that time for the purpose of assisting the police investigation.

So, why arrest...why go for remand and detain them further...why all that FRU trucks and ...

Security was tight at the court complex, where six riot police FRU trucks as well as a water-cannon truck have been deployed. About 50 supporters and family members of those arrested have gathered outside the courthouse.

Journalists have also been barred from entering the court complex.

Police showed a document signed by Kajang magistrate Nurdiana Mohd Nazari stating that only the lawyer representing those arrested and their family members are allowed into the court.Malaysiakini, 24/10/2008 - Child, mother freed, 10 remanded

“Any attempt to remand is an attempt to punish them especially with Deepavali being around the corner,” he stressed.

During the remand hearing, one of the female detainee, Lourdes Mary, fainted in court while explaining the lock-up condition to the magistrate.

According to Surendran, the detainee is a diabetic and her legs have swollen twice the size as she was unable to obtain insulin since her detention yesterday.

“I have never seen this kind of neglect in court before,” lamented the lawyer.

Meanwhile, another legal team member M Manogaran criticised the police for demanding lawyers to register themselves before entering the court building and for barring journalists from entering the complex.

“This is a tragedy. As an officer of court, I have a statutory duty to go into the court [...] We will take this issue to Bar Council. It’s a breach of statutory duty,” said the lawyer, who is also the Teluk Intan MP.- Malaysiakini, 24/10/2008 - Child, mother freed, 10 remanded