KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 ― The family of Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah today submitted a habeas corpus application to the High Court here asking it to compel the police to release her from a 28-day detention order.
Police detained Maria on November 18 under Section 124C of the Penal Code that criminalises the attempt to commit activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy, and invoked the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, or Sosma, for the arrest.
The Sosma invocation permits the police to hold individuals for up to 28 days without trial.
Maria's eldest son, Azumin Mohd Yunus, 23, filed the affidavit on behalf of the family.
“We still find this unjust, that our mum is being detained in a prison. We were promised by our politicians that Sosma would not be used as a political tool, but right now, it seems like that promise has been broken.
“We hope that she can be let out as soon as possible,” Azumin told the media when met at the court lobby here.
Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, one of Maria lawyers, said Azumin had cited the conditions under which the Bersih 2.0 chief was allegedly being held, to support the application.
Maria alleged on Sunday that she was kept in solitary confinement within a 15 feet by 8 feet windowless cell where two light bulbs are kept on for 24 hours a day, and denied a bed.
Azumin yesterday said Maria suffered from health conditions that may be aggravated by sleep deprivation that would result from the conditions of her cell.
More than 10,000 people took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday for Bersih 2.0’s protest against corruption.
Though the Bersih 5 demonstration ended without incident, several opposition leaders and activists were arrested shortly after.
