By Joseph Sipalan
Jul 15, 11 | MalaysiaKini
Sungai Siput MP Dr D Jeyakumar is holding up well despite having been detained for nearly three weeks now, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said today after meeting up with the Parti Sosialis Malaysia activist.
Lim, who with PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub and PKR’s Subang Jaya MP R Sivarasa met with Jeyakumar for 20 minutes at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters earlier today, said he PSM was doing “okay” so far.
“By and large he is okay, despite the wear and tear. What is most important is the loss of freedom and injustice of this arbitrary detention, and I say this as a former detainee under the ISA,” Lim told a press conference after the visit.
Jeyakumar is one of the PSM 6 detained under the Emergency Ordinance on July 2, on police intelligence claiming interference by foreign powers trying to “harm public order” – which deputy inspector general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said gave them grounds to act to prevent potential violence and criminal activity.
The other PSM members detained are deputy chairperson M Saraswathy, central committee members Choo Chon Kai and M Sukumaran, Sungai Siput branch secretary A Letchumanan and youth leader Sarat Babu.
The six were re-arrested under section 3(1) of the EO, immediately after they were released from seven days of remand at Kepala Batas district police station.
They were initially arrested with 24 others on June 25, while in a bus at the Sungai Dua toll plaza, and investigated under Section 122 of the Penal Code for allegedly waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Lim said that “not even the authorities themselves” believed the grounds for the initial charge, and accused the authorities of acting in “utter bad faith”.
Sivarasa pointed out that the authorities had nothing to justify the detention of the PSM 6 under the EO, let alone the charge of waging war against the King.
He said the only precedent where anyone was found guilty of waging war against the Agong was the infamous al-Maunah case, where the banned movement’s members had actually built up a cache of guns and murdered people.
‘Whole world looking at Malaysia’
As for the charge under the EO, Sivarasa said the police had replaced the earlier charge with a more “general” charge as they knew it would not stick.
“The charge sheet first said they were mobilisers for Bersih, therefore they were prejudicial to public order. That charge sheet was withdrawn and replaced with a more general charge of them being prejudicial to public order.
“The whole world is looking at Malaysia, and they are wondering what kind of police state we have. Jeyakumar is known as the gentle doctor, and we are holding the gentle doctor as if he is a hardened criminal,” Sivarasa said.
Meanwhile, the families and laywers of the PSM 6 spent the later part of the morning visiting them at the various locations around the city where they are being detained.
They are then expected to come together at Bukit Aman, where they intend to present a memorandum to inspector-general of police Ismail Omar at 3pm to demand the immediate release of the six
#1 by boh-liao on Friday, 15 July 2011 - 4:53 pm
Will Jeyakumar or anyone of d detainees MATI mysteriously while in detention, consistent with other cases (eg, TBH n ASM)?
#2 by Jeffrey on Friday, 15 July 2011 - 5:16 pm
The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR’s Rupert Colville) has already expressed concern of measures taken by Malaysian authorities targeting members of Bersih as an unlawful organization. El Hadji Malick Sow, Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention already said, “We remain deeply concerned about the detention of six individuals since 25 June under the Emergency Ordinance, which allows for detention without trial for up to 60 days.” Can Malaysia being a recent member of UN Human Rights Council afford to ignore these expressions of concerns without jeopardising our standing and position in that Council?
#3 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Friday, 15 July 2011 - 6:21 pm
UN Human Rights Committee, may I sincerely suggest you put your money where your mouth is. Don’t just make a statement! Send an official memorandum to question Malaysia’s actions. After all, as a member country and signatory to whatever, they should be nudged…no, blasted for such blatant breach of human rights!
Go ahead, even issue a warning. And if malaysia chooses to ignore, take it to the next level, and the next and the next. if needs be, remove malaysia from the Council.
We can’t let malaysia be like myanmar and then the whole world mourns and laments and oozes all manner of hypocrisy on the issue.
Cut off the crap, and cut off malaysia’s nose to size if it persists in barbaric practyices as against civil rule. Listen, this is the 21st century and the world can do with one less Gaddafi, Ben Ali, mahathir, idi Amin, Hitler or najib.
The inetrnational community must support each other and make each one toe the line or face the music. There can be no 2 ways about this; if not, why have a UN agency at all.
#4 by Bigjoe on Saturday, 16 July 2011 - 8:12 am
The continue detention of the EO 6 is without real merit obviously. Its possible the detention, seemingly just stubborness on part of UMNO/BN, may have a strategic reason to it.
Its possible the real fear is the Indian and the Malay squarter vote. Its quite obvious at this juncture the six especially Dr. Jeyakumar has risen in profile. Its possible their status now rival Hindraf with the Malay poor vote too.
Without Indian and urban Malay poor vote, Selangor is slam dunk for PR and should do better than 308 unless they cheating get to the point of triggering a Tahrir Square.