KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — Several of the activists and opposition leaders arrested yesterday before and after the Bersih 5 rally will be held for another two days.
Lawyer Melissa Sasidaran said a magistrate granted the remand order for graphics artist Fahmi Reza, activist Hishamuddin Rais, PKR MPs Chua Tian Chang and Zuraida Kamaruddin, DAP’s Pasir Pinji assemblyman Howard Lee, and student activist Muhammad Luqman Hakim Mohd Fazli after a two-hour hearing today.
“The magistrate allows remand of two days, starting today and tomorrow,” she told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
All those remanded were arrested under Section 147/511 of the Penal Code, she said.
Section 147 of the Penal Code pertains to rioting while Section 511 provides punishment for attempting to commit said offence.
Lawyers for Liberty earlier tweeted that others arrested before Bersih 5 — Mandeep Singh, Safwan Anang, Parti Sosialis Malaysia politician S. Arutchelvan and Universiti Malaya student Anis Syafiqah Mohd Yusof — will be released at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters this afternoon.
Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah remains detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, or Sosma, while “Red Shirts” leader Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos is remanded until Tuesday.
More than 10,000 people took to the streets of the capital city today at the fifth edition of Bersih 2.0’s rallies to protest against corruption.
A smaller number of the “Red Shirts” also rallied without major incident aside from sporadic arrests by police.
No clashes occurred despite initial fears over both rallies happening in the same place and on the same day, as police successfully kept both groups apart.
* A previous version of the report misidentified the student activist remanded as Mohd Luqman Nul Hakim Zul Razal, who was also arrested but released today, and has since been corrected.
