My arrest and subsequent detention was a premeditated frame-up by the authorities and government-controlled media to vilify me.
All along I have maintained a consistent stand of peaceful resistance. Under many circumstances including when facing undue violence, I had never lifted my hand to inflict harm against others. This has long been acknowledged by both friends and foes.
I feel extremely outraged at such wicked smear tactic. It is clear that the propaganda was orchestrated to discredit the struggle to defend rights of kampong folks.
Instead of addressing the peneroka’s legitimate demands, it created an impression that the kampong people were behaving violently. The public attention has also been diverted from questioning the conflicts of interest in this case—where PNSB is part of the developer, and the Selangor state government with its “Zero-Squatters Policy†is using its enforcement agencies to seize land from the poor.
In response to this wild accusation, I held a press conference the next morning after my release.
I categorically deny that I have run over anybody. I regret that it has created an impression that I was behaving violently. I reiterate that on 7 March morning, my car did not knock down or ran over anyone, neither employees of contractors nor police officers. Further, no gate, fence or any property of the developer has been destroyed.
I challenge the police or the developer to produce concrete evidence to substantiate their claims.