Civil society activist Wong Chin Huat was arrested under the Sedition Act at his home in Taman Sri Sentosa in Kuala Lumpur at about 8 pm tonight.
Is it because of the “1Black Malaysia” campaign?
The following is a Malaysiakini report on Wong’s arrest:
Activist Wong arrested under Sedition Act Poll reform group Bersih spokesperson Wong Chin Huat has been arrested under the Sedition Act tonight by a team of police at his home in Taman Sri Sentosa in Kuala Lumpur. According to his lawyer Edmund Bon, the activist was arrested at 8pm after a police report was lodged today. “I tried negotiating with the police officer (on the phone) but they won’t listen to me. They didn’t want to tell under what section of the Sedition Act (that the arrest was made) and who the complainant is.” Bon has since unable to contact Wong. According to him, he could be taken to the police headquarters in Bukit Aman. It is not clear whether Wong’s arrest is linked to a press conference he called earlier today. At the press conference, Wong (photo) had urged the public to wear black on May 7, to protest the Perak state government takeover by Barisan Nasional which has been seen as undemocratic and unconstitutional. Wong issued a statement on behalf of Bersih, saying that the protest was aimed at newly-minted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is widely credited as the mastermind behind the February power grab. The Bersih’s campaign slogan “1BlackMalaysia: Democracy first, elections now”, is a play on Najib’s “1Malaysia: People first, performance now” tagline. May 7 is also the date where BN Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir is convening the Perak state legislative assembly to oust speaker V Sivakumar and pass motions to legitimise his government. ‘Paint every town, village black’ In his statement today, Wong said that the 1BlackMalaysia campaign is a peaceful, yet powerful message of “civil disobedience”. “We want to let them know that people are the politicians’ bosses and no politician can disregard public opinion and escape punishment in the next general election,” he said. He urged the public to “paint every state, territory, town and village black” with clothes, headbands, hats, turbans, veils, armbands, ribbons and stickers. “Let us be united in one black colour and let’s show the world that the 1Malaysia under Najib is 1BlackMalaysia living in darkness,” he said. Bersih is a coalition of opposition parties and NGOs who have been pressuring the authorities to improve election laws and administration.