KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — Police arrested tonight two men who were hanging up banners in neighbouring Petaling Jaya on the upcoming Bersih 4.0 rally in the national capital on August 29 and August 30.

When contacted, polls reform group Bersih 2.0 chief Maria Chin Abdullah confirmed the late night arrest, saying that the duo were hanging the banner for this Friday’s launch of the rally.

“There’s a Bersih launch on Friday to announce the rally,” she told Malay Mail Online, adding that the two are now at the Petaling Jaya police station.

Bersih 2.0 secretariat staff Mandeep Singh also confirmed that Adrian Lim Chee En and another volunteer identified only as Padil were arrested while putting up the banner near the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre, where the Friday launch would be held.

“I still don’t know why they were arrested but they were only fixing a banner,” he told Malay Mail Online.

Mandeep said 10 policemen in five patrol cars were involved in the arrest of the duo.

According to Mandeep too, the banner only contains the name of the rally, along with the venue, time and the five key demands of the rally.

The group’s demands are for the strengthening of parliamentary democracy, clean elections, clean government, right to dissent and saving the economy.

Mandeep, who is now at the police station, said they are waiting for their lawyers.

Earlier today, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said the police will allow the overnight rally if it is done according to the law, but added that the police will take action if it turns seditious or if the public are encouraged to bring down the government through illegal means.

He did not state if the demands that will be made during the rally are deemed seditious.

Yesterday, Bersih 2.0 said its rally is to demand free elections and to protest the Najib administration’s handling of the controversies surrounding the debt-riddled 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

The group have also asked rally participants to gather at Brickfields, Pasar Seni, Sogo, Masjid Negara and Dataran Maybank before marching towards historic Dataran Merdeka in the federal city.

The electoral watchdog is also holding simultaneous rallies in Kuching, Sarawak and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah with plans to also hold similar gatherings in other major cities worldwide.

The last Bersih rally three years ago ahead of the 13th general election was estimated by its organisers to have drawn some 50,000 participants in the national capital although government estimates placed the figure far lower.