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Malaysia police nab activists following May Day rally

Saturday, 02 May 2015 12:52 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 02 May 2015 12:53 PM ]

This photo shows a masked Malaysian protester holding a flower during a May Day rally in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, May 1, 2015. (© AFP)

Malaysian police have detained more than two dozen people, including opposition figures, for participating in a May Day rally in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Thousands of Malaysians took part in the rally to mark the international workers’ day, known as the May Day, on Friday.

Later at night, police arrested scores of people, including a leading human rights activist, Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Ambiga’s lawyer, N. Surendran, said the activist was detained on charges of sedition and unlawful assembly.

Ambiga is a well-known human rights activist and a former president of Malaysia’s Bar Council.

Her lawyer told AFP that the arrests “were scare tactics by the police to deter people from opposing the government.”

Ambiga was released Saturday afternoon after police failed to obtain a remand order from a judge to hold her longer.

Human Rights Watch Deputy Director Phil Robertson had called Ambiga’s arrest “absolutely outrageous.”

Other prominent figures arrested by police following the Friday rally are the chief of the Socialist Party of Malaysia and a senior lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Action Party.

The two were also released on Saturday after police failed to obtain a remand order from a magistrate.

Six under-aged protesters were also among the detainees, who are to be freed on Saturday, and 23 other protesters, mostly young adults, are expected to be released on Monday.

Meanwhile, local media said police had detained opposition People’s Justice Party secretary-general Rafizi Ramlie on Saturday, as well.

Robertson said, “This wave of arrests should raise alarm bells among international friends of Malaysia about just how far the powers that be in Putrajaya (Malaysia’s federal administrative center) are dragging the country off the path of democratic, rights-respecting governance.”

Opposition groups in Malaysia are extremely critical of the government’s GST (goods and services tax) and a controversial anti-terrorism law that is aimed at cracking down on suspects believed to be linked to ISIL militants in the South Asian country. Human Rights proponents claim the bill limits the civil rights of the citizens, and also makes detention orders immune from judicial scrutiny.

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