Tan Sri Khalid Nordin arrested by Police at the Parliament Entrance after ingnored the police warning to dispersed this afternoon.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 11, 2007): About 30 people, including leaders of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), were arrested today when they defied a court order and attempted to hand over a memorandum to oppose the constitutional amendment to extend the retirement age of Election Commission members from 65 to 66.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) treasurer Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, its information chief Tian Chua and PAS treasurer Dr Hatta Ramli were among those arrested.

However, by 5pm, at least half of those detained, including Khalid, were released.

Police checkpoints and closure of roads leading to Parliament building today caused massive jams in the city, and thwarted attempts by Bersih supporters to reach the vicinity.

However, despite the roadblocks and the heavy presence of police personnel led by Sentul OCPD Asst Comm Ahmad Sofian Md Yassin, who took their up positions as early as 4am, several Bersih leaders tried to enter Parliament.

Chua was the first to be arrested at 10.40am when he arrived in a Proton Tiara driven by PKR staff Abdul Razak Ismail. The two coolly drove past dozens of policemen standing guard along the road leading to Parliament but had to stop the car after about 50m. Abdul Razak alighted several minutes after being ordered to do so by the police, but Chua refused to budge.

Three policemen carried him from the car and tried to put him on his feet, but he lay flat on his back on the road. Several policemen then carried him into a patrol car which took him to the state police headquarters on Jalan Hang Tuah.  Abdul Razak was taken away in another vehicle.

Fifteen minutes later, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S.Arutchelvam and another supporter who were on foot, were arrested as they neared the road junction leading to Parliament.

Hatta, together with PAS women's wing head Dr Lo'lo Ghazali, PSM president Dr Nasir Hashim and PKR's Ang Yok Hai, who had walked from the Mahameru highway interchange, were arrested at 11.15am.

At noon, at least 40 journalists, who spotted Khalid turning up alone, converged around the PKR treasurer. He was arrested just as he was about to leave in a four-wheel drive.

Sentul OCPD ACP Ahmad Sofian Md Yassin said all the road closures were removed by 6.30pm but police would continue to guard Parliament House.

City  Deputy CPO SAC I Patrick Jijes Sigore, when contacted at about 6pm, said the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan will issue a statement on the arrests that were carried out.

According to a PKR statement, among those arrested were two journalists, Centre for Independent Journalism executive director V.Gayathry, and Writers Alliance for Media Independence chairman Wong Chin Huat.

It said the two were part of a five-member delegation which handed the memorandum to Parliament. They handed it to opposition members of Parliament, Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar (PAS-Tumpat), Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian), Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Permatang Pauh) and Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh).

The other three in the delegation were the head of PAS Research Centre Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, Suara Rakyat Malaysia executive director Yap Swee Seng and Harakah advertising head Mokhtar Rozaidi.

They five were released by police by 4pm.

As at press time, PKR said 16 people including a 13-year-old boy were still being held by police in their headquarters.

Cops just doing their job, says Nazri
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 11, 2007): Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz defended the police presence and action on the grounds of Parliament today, including the roads leading to Parliament.

He said the police were merely carrying out their responsibility in upholding the law and were executing it in professionally.

Nazri was commenting on the arrest of several supporters of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) at the VIP entrance, and others on the roads leading to Parliament.

“The police have the right to arrest people even in Parliament House if they were found to pose a threat to security,” he said.

He said the police had acted within their rights to apprehend anyone believed to have encroached on to high security areas, and that Parliament was one of those.

The police had on Monday obtained an injunction to stop Bersih from having an assembly to hand over the memorandum.

Mohd Nazri also said the resolution passed in the Dewan Rakyat at the beginning of every session, only allowed free passage and access to the Parliament building for elected representatives, whereas the public would need permission before they were allowed to step into Parliament.

"They didn't contact me [to obtain permission]. You know how liberal I am, so I'll allow them if they got in touch with me," said Mohd Nazri, who is in charge of parliamentary affairs and law.

He said there was also a need to look at the tendencies of the protesters to disrupt public order. “We have seen the outcome of the protests, you must be blind if you think we can have a peaceful walk. Anything can happen. We do not want to be blamed if there are casualties," he said.

He said Bersih had rejected the option of holding its gathering in an enclosed area.

Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharum also defended the police, saying their job was to ensure and maintain public stability and peace.

Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, however, criticised the police's move to block Bersih supporters from submitting a memorandum protesting against the Constitution Amendment Bill to extend the retirement age of the Election Commission chairman.

He said the roadblocks were against Parliament privileges and sovereignty, as the public should have access to their elected representatives.

"We want the police to look after the safety of the Parliament House and not block access of the people or NGOs. It's undermining the parliamentary responsibility,” he said.

He added that there would not be any untoward incident if the Bersih delegation was allowed into the building.

Anwar briefly detained by immigration in KLIA
PETALING JAYA (Dec 11, 2007): Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he was detained for a short period in KL International Airport this morning upon his return from Turkey.

He said he was stopped by Immigration Department officers who alerted him that his name had been added to a “suspect list”.

“No further explanation was given. After that my passport was returned to me and I exited the airport,” he said in a statement.

According to his personal aide, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Anwar was not questioned but the officers told him they had to get clearance from their superiors before releasing him.

The Immigration Department, however, was not aware of the detention. Its enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed told theSun he only knew that Anwar did not use the Autogate machine as he had gone through the standard passport check-up.

He said he did not know if Anwar was detained and that he would check on the matter.

Suhakam calls on the authorities to respect and uphold the law
PETALING JAYA (Dec 11, 2007): The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today described the recent arrests as “selective and seemingly biased” and urged the authorities to use force only when absolutely necessary.

"Currently it appears that arrests and prosecutions are selective and seemingly biased,” Suhakam's secretary Ahmad Yusuf Ngah said in a statement today, after the commission's monthly meeting in Kuching on Monday in conjunction with World Human Rights Day.

“Suhakam calls on the authorities to respect and uphold the law, and to implement the law equally as guaranteed by Article 8 of the Federal Constitution," he said.

Ahmad commented on the statement by former Suhakam chairman Tun Musa Hitam that Suhakam had failed to address certain sensitive issues in society.

In an interview with an English daily on Sunday (Dec 9), Musa expressed concern over the lack of freedom of expression and any system to allow for peaceful assembly.

Ahmad said Musa was not aware of the many recommendations made by the commission after his tenure ended in 2002.

He said Suhakam’s report on the public inquiry into the police’s treatment of petrol price hike protesters in Kuala Lumpur on May 28, 2006, had recommended that Section 27 of the Police Act 1967 be repealed.

The section requires any gathering of three people and more to obtain a police permit.

He said Suhakam also recommended guidelines for the conduct of peaceful assemblies and practical measures to control the crowd to avoid any violence during assemblies.

"Suhakam urges the relevant authorities to review all existing regulations and guidelines with regard to crowd control of any peaceful assembly to ensure that the use of force should only be employed where it is strictly necessary for the enforcement of the law and maintaining of public order," Ahmad said.

"Suhakam regrets that many of its recommendations to the authorities remain unheeded. This has not enhanced our national human rights status."

Anwar detained by immigration, dozens of Opposition leaders, members nabbed

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 11, 2007): Immigration officers today detained de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and police arrested a human rights lawyer and about a dozen opposition leaders, amid growing complaints the government was harassing opposition politicians.

Immigration officials detained former deputy premier Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahimin the KL International Airport upon returning from Istanbul via Singapore before being cleared for entry, his lawyer William Leong said.

"It's just a clear harassment," Anwar told Reuters. "It's a desperate attempt to harass and intimidate the public and deflect the attention from major issues of corruption among Umno leaders and the judiciary."

In the incident that lasted about half an hour, Anwar said he was stopped because his name was on immigration's "suspects list" although he was not informed why.

Anwar said he was allowed to leave after a senior immigration officer came out to speak to him, but his name remains on the list, which could bar him from leaving Malaysia.

"No grounds were given," Anwar's lawyer Leong said of the detention. "There appears to have been some note which put the official on alert to stop him from coming in and to detain him until he obtained approval from the superior."

Police today arrested human rights lawyer P. Uthayakumar who helped organise 10,000 ethnic Indians to protest last month against racial discrimination.

The 46-year-old Uthayakumar would be charged later today with sedition for statements he made in a book, his aide said without elaborating.

In the Malaysian capital today, dozens of policemen blocked the main entrance to the parliament building to foil an opposition-led rally demanding free and fair elections.

Riot police, armed with batons and shields and backed by a water cannon, took positions close to the parliament while vehicles passing through were checked.

Police arrested about a dozen opposition leaders, including the leader of Anwar's Keadilan (Justice) party, Tian Chua, after the car he was travelling in broke through a police cordon and headed toward parliament to hand over a memo demanding reforms in the electoral process.

Tian was arrested after he defied police orders to leave the car. Police then handcuffed and carried him out of the car before bundling him into a waiting police patrol car, Reuters reports today.

A statement released by PKR's information bureau said Anwar, the de facto   party leader, was detained and held for questioning by immigration as his passport was blacklisted.

FRU at front the Parliament gate.

After being questioned for an hour, Anwar was released.

Meanwhile, BERSIH, the coalition of civil society organisations and political parties were supposed to hand over a memorandum this morning to the Parliament Speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz.

However, the road leading to Parliament was closed.

A delegation whicha was supposed to travel in a convoy from PAS headquarters in Chowkit to Parliament was surrounded by police on Jalan Raja Laut.

About noon, PKR treasure Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim was also arrested by police while leaving Parliament house. It was not immediately known why he was arrested.

Persons arrested thus far: Tain Chua PKR Information chief); Razak Ismail; A.Arutchelvan (Socialist Party Malaysia secretary-general) and Sivarajan (Socialist Party Malaysia central committee member).