KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — Electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 today claimed they were subjected to police “intimidation”, after two of their members were briefly arrested for questioning over last month’s #KitaLawan rally.

Bersih 2.0 chief Maria Chin Abdullah and secretariat member Mandeep Singh claimed that the probes were akin to threats and harassment by the authorities in a bid to clamp down on public displays of dissent.

Mandeep said the police questioning revolved around a March 28 #KitaLawan rally.

“But we believe this is intimidation for the May Day rally,” he said, referring to this Friday’s #KitaLawan rally against the Goods and Services Tax.

Maria said the authorities should stop intimidating the public and respect Malaysians’ constitutional right to freedom of assembly.

“I feel that it is threatening, it is harassment, it is intimidation which is very unnecessary. It is in the Constitution that we have our rights so respect the Constitution and stop this intimidation.

“And come out on May Day, it’s our right to be there,” she said in confirming she will join the May 1 rally, after spending the morning being questioned at the Dang Wangi police station.

The duo confirmed they are being probed under Section 143 of the Penal Code for unlawful assembly.

Section 143 states that those who are members of an unlawful assembly shall be punished with a maximum six-month jail term or a fine or both.

The duo’s lawyer Honey Tan said they had exercised their right to silence under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code during police questioning.

Confirming that the duo is out on police bail and will need to return to the Dang Wangi police station on May 29, Maria said: “It was not just investigation. It was arrest but we are on police bail. One month later we will know whether we will be brought to court”.

She later said: “Let them charge us in court, let them answer in court what is wrong with being on the streets and exercising (our rights).”

Maria Chin had voluntarily turned up for questioning today, while Mandeep was present to show his support when he was asked to aid in police investigations.

The police have been arresting opposition leaders and activists in an ever widening dragnet over the #KitaLawan rallies that were held to pressure for the release of jailed Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad from PAS was even arrested last month in the dead of night at 3.20am in the #KitaLawan sweep.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has defended the arrests, saying last month that while the police respect freedom of speech and expression, there will be no “compromise” against those who cause public unrest.