KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Police are abusing their authority by unnecessarily detaining Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and two opposition leaders following yesterday’s May Day rally, said the National Human Rights Society (Hakam).
According to the group, the former co-chair of Bersih, DAP’s Seremban MP Anthony Loke and PSM secretary-general S. Arulchelvam did not present flight risks and had presented themselves voluntarily when told they were being investigated.
“Hakam views the arrests and detentions including any applications for a further remand a blatant abuse of police powers.
“The police investigative powers to detain ought only to be used against individuals sparingly where there exists flight risks or where there are risks of tampering with police investigations and evidence,” the group said in a statement.
Hakam added that police must respect the rule of law and the constitutional rights of Malaysians, when performing their duties as law enforcers and must end the “deplorable practice” of arresting and remanding activists.
Police are attempting to secure orders for further remand Ambiga, Loke, Arulchelvam and several others detained following yesterday’s rally in Kuala Lumpur.
They were detained under the Sedition Act and Section 143 of the Penal Code that covers participation in an illegal assembly.
At least 29 people were arrested by police over the rally, where police said they also seized “smoke bombs”.
The rally by civil society movement #KitaLawan kicked off shortly after 2.30pm yesterday afternoon from several meeting points and drew a reported crowd of nearly ten thousand participants to the streets of the capital.
There were no report of injuries or casualties arising from the rally, that is said to have progressed peacefully in a march by a sea of thousands of Malaysians clothed in red and black.
After the event, however, police claimed on their official Facebook account that the rally was not fully under control, citing incidents of alleged vandalism and smoke bombs being thrown by the protesters to back up its claim.
The police also said protesters had brought children to the rally - an offence under the Peaceful Assembly Act.
