KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — Police have arrested PKR vice president Chua Tian Chang in relation to the March 7 #KitaLawan rally, the latest opposition leader to be detained in what appears to be a crackdown on dissent.
PKR communications chief Fahmi Fadzil said the Batu MP was arrested at the Dang Wangi police headquarters here after he went there voluntarily to have his statement over his involvement recorded.
“This makes him the 11th person to be detained in relation to the rally,” Fahmi said.
Chua, or better known as Tian Chua, will be detained overnight and Fahmi said he had received information that the police will try to extend the remand period tomorrow.
He is currently being held at the Jinjang Police Headquarters in Kepong where he will have his statement recorded at 3pm today.
Chua could not be reached for comments.
Police had initially attempted to make the arrest at Chua's residence last night but was thwarted by Chua's lawyer Sivarasa Rasiah.
Sivarasa, also PKR' MP for Subang, claimed like the other arrests, the police had intentionally wanted to detain Chua late at midnight to “harass” his colleague.
Chua's arrest comes just three days after the police said it will investigate Nurul Nuha Anwar and another PKR leader S. Jayathas over their involvement in the #KitaLawan rally.
A day before that Nurul Nuha's sister, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, was arrested for sedition over her speech in Parliament.
Nurul Nuha, the second daughter of jailed Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, has been the face of the protest movement to free her father from prison.
The police have yet to confirm when her statement will be recorded.
Meanwhile her sister Nurul Izzah was detained overnight on March 16 after going voluntarily to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters to record her statement on two separate probes — one on her involvement in the #KitaLawan rally two weeks ago and one on her parliamentary speech for Anwar.
She has since been released.
