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On 7 May, police arrested 15 people for illegal assembly a candlelight
vigil in front of the Brickfields police station. The vigil was held in
support of political scientist and activist Wong Chin Huat, who was arrested
from 5 to 8 May for alleged sedition.
Lawyers from the Kuala Lumpur Legal Aid Centre — Fadiah Nadwa Fikri,
Murnie Hidayah Anuar, Puspawati Rosman, Ravinder Singh Dhalilwal and
Syuhaini Safwan — were arrested after they went to the police station to
meet those who were detained for holding the vigil.
The lawyers were arrested after they had asked to meet the detainees and
were denied access to them by the police.
At a
press conference held at the Bar Council auditorium at 2.30 p.m, the
President announced that the five lawyers were in the process of being
released.
The 20
were released on police bail the next day and were asked to report to the
police station at 10am on 22 May.
About 150 lawyers gathered at the Jalan Duta Court Complex at 10 a.m. in
support of the five detained KLLAC lawyers. At the gathering, Ragunath Kesavan,
President of the Malaysian Bar, announced that an EGM will be called very
soon to discuss the issue of lawyers being arrested in the course of
carrying out their professional duties.
The Bar
Council held an extraordinary general meeting on 15 May in response to
the incident and plans to sue the government for the unlawful detention
of the five lawyers and for denying them access to detainees.
Urgent action needed:
Please write protest letters to the
government and the police to express your strongest condemnation of the
arrests of 5 lawyers and other Individuals and the ongoing denial of rights of
expression.
Please also demand the Malaysian
government for the immediate and unconditional release of all activists.
Please
take action on behalf of Filiz
Kalayci.
Copy the enclosed letter and send it to
the address provided.
ADRESSES:
Prime Minister,
Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul
Razak,
Prime Minister's Office,
Main Block, Perdana Putra Building,
Federal Government Administrative Centre,
62502 Putrajaya, MALAYSIA
Tel: 603-8888 8000
Fax: 603-8888 3444
E-Mail: ppm@pmo.gov.my
LETTRE:
[your name here]
Your Excellency,
Dear Sir,
Re: Release 5,lawyers and other
Individuals Arrested during Two Separate Vigils
We are writing to you, once again, to
express our outrage and our strongest
condemnation over your government’s ongoing crackdown on freedom
of expression.
We are appalled by your government and
the police’s latest actions and view
this as yet another attempt by your government to intimidate
Malaysian citizens from exercising their freedom to express their views.
We demand that the 5,lawyers and other
Individuals Arrested should be released immediately and unconditionally.
We further demand that your government stops the assault on freedom of
expression.
We strongly urge you, once again, to
stop bringing shame to Malaysia, a member of the United Nations Human
Rights Council. We would like to remind you that freedom of expression
and assembly is guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
as well as the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.
Yours sincerely,
[signature i]
PLEASE
ACT NOW.
THANK YOU.
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bservatory for Defence
Rights and attacks against lawyers
