Arrested at mamak stall
Jan 29th, 2008 by Tian
No doubt Malaysian police force is one of the world’s most efficient.
Under the leadership of Abdullah, police had acquired new efficiency in clamping down public protest.
Nowadays people could be arrested and charged with ‘illegal’ assembly, even though no assembly had taken place.
On 26 Jan the coalition of parties and NGOs planned to stage a protest against price hike in KLCC. The assembly was scheduled at 15:00hr. However even before the scheduled time, the police had started to round up people suspected of participating in the protest.
Within a short period of time more than a dozen of activists had been arrested in KLCC. I discussed on the phone with Dr Hatta, we concluded that the police would immediately grab us if we appear in KLCC. So we decided to go over to Jalan Yap Kwan Seng to hold a press conference.
We agreed to meet at a Mamak teh tarik shop opposite Sivaras’s legal firm, adjacent to Australian High Commission. The press conference was held at 15:30hr with the presence of local and foreign journalists.
While I was talking to the press, the police and SB too monitor me from afar. As I was alone, I guess they could not accused me for participating in an illegal assembly.
I condemned the arrest and the brutal manner of the police, etc. At about 16:00 or 16:15, I was joined by Dr Hatta and Jonson Chong. They sat down and ordered tea.
Unfortunately, before they could finish the tea, a dozen of police officers, both plaincloth and uniformed police surrounded us. The officer who looked like the leader of the squat, flipped a bundle of paper in front of me. Jonson, being a lawyer requested them to state the reason for the arrest.
The officer tried to justify that there had been a court order against me. Still, there was no a warrant of arrest. Jonson tried to dispute the ground of Dr Hatta and my arrest. Then the police lost their patience and seized all three of us including our lawyer Jonson. We were dragged forcefully and rudely into the police van and brought to IPK at Jalan Hang Tuah.
In the KL Police HQ, many activists had already been arrested, including: Arutchelvam, Dr Nasir, Mat Sabu etc. In total about 60 people had been detained. As usual, the police took their own sweet time to record statement.
As I could see, the officers were merely delaying time and waiting for further instruction. Although there was hardly any real investigation conducted, the authority, most likely through the AG, wanted us to be detained and further remanded.
At the IPK, I was able to read the court order carefully. The order was in fact obtained on 25 Jan, a day before the protest. To my surprised I also discovered that the name listed in the court order was CHUAH TIAN CHUAN with an ID card completely different from mine. The order also clearly demarcated two circles one kilometer radius from KLCC and KLCC Mosques.
I was conscious of the radians of prohibited zone, and I deliberately held the press conference outside the designated areas.
At the end, the police still nabbed me and others.
I can only concluded that the police had a prejudicial motive to nail me. I was arrested and detained in a lock-up, even without my physically presence at the protest rally.
Police mala fide?
PDRM is well known with their effectiveness and aggressiveness in arresting people who dare to voice the truth.
But, where has their effectiveness and aggressiveness gone when dealing with criminal cases especially when involving politicians for instance, the murder of Altantuya!
Let BN be ended in this coming GE……
Despite all these abuse why don’t you sue the police for wrongful arrest. Come on man, make some money from these bastards.
Yes, I am suing them. I have filed a civil suit over the arrest at the Parliament House.
We should not let the culprits off the hook.
Cheers,
Tian
If they spend this much time and effort looking for the missing girl, they would have found her already.
Dear Tian,
But do you think will it work? I have completely lost my confident with our government……
Sad case of affair… I wonder if these ppl in blue are affected by the price increase ? If all these works they too enjoy the results. Maybe they can afford price increase because their income is way above that of the average rakyat…..
Damn dogs of the UMNOputras bullying downtrodden rakyat. May all involved in these injustices reap the same for their generations to come. WHY can’t these blue dogs gear their time and effort towards the HIGH crime rate instead of oppressing the regular rakyat?
I’m not surprised. In the old days, the mata mata could not read English. Now it looks like they cannot even read Bahasa Melayu! But don’t despair. Cops are the same everywhere. In Australia the chief of the Australian Federal Police wants PRESS BLACKOUT on reporting so-called “terrorism cases”. The last two his mata mata were involved in fell down in a spectacular fashion. They tried to “verbal” Dr Haneef in one of them and when his lawyer released the full transcript of a police interview, they tried to have him disciplined. Of course the judge(s) in Australia tell the police where to get off! But in Boleh Land perhaps even the judges could be a worry, especially if they are ambitious. Since it looks like there was false arrest, try suing the individual mata mata so they have to spend their own money to defend themselves. Tell your lawyer that they could not have validly acted in the course of their duty. The law does not require them to act unlawfully. They will stop when they have to gadai their house to pay the lawyer! Good Luck!
Sue them again lah!
The only thing we can do it broadcast to CNN,AFP ,Al-Jazeera and etc. All judge,ACA head,PDRM all under BN.
We support you Tian, keep up the good work and let the people know and exposed all the wrong thing the stupid and uneducated PDRM who know little about the law.
New generation of demonstration which cannot be “PADAM”, now we have it in PAVILION BUKIT BINTANG!
http://warna2008.blogspot.com/
Not to forget, the board of judiciary are corrupted as well, what difference would it make for wrongful arrest? Itd be just a waste of time to fight with people who take law in to their own hands.
Im not meaning that we should give up but a change in the government is what we need.
When my fingers hit the keyboard of my computer, my blood is boiling with anger and frustration at the so called professional PDRM after reading the above article. I once served the uniform body but not WITH this bunch of fools with mentality below sea LEVEL. Before I die it is my honourable wish to God that none of my generation will or shall associate or join this bunch of b….rd.I wish the clock to be turned back to the early 70s whereby we sometime have the opportunity to bash them up because we came from the species called pongoes pigmities.
The police are nothing but dogs, taking instructions from above. Or rather pigs since they are … ok enough. They’re just pawns of higher authority. To nip the problem in the bud, we need to change those in power.