10 arrested for 'greeting' PM in yellow at KL Sentral (UPDATED-1)

Ten people, including an aide to Ampang MP and a PKR youth leader, were arrested at the KL Sentral this afternoon for wearing yellow and seeking to hand over a memorandum on the Bersih 2.0 demands to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Mohd Fareez Kamal Intidzam, the aide to Zuraida Kamaruddin, was arrested by a group of police officers before Najib's arrival.

"Ironically, one of us was wearing a Malaysian jersey and I myself was wearing the 'Patriot' colour of red, and we were arrested," Fareez told Malaysiakini.

The 10 have been taken to the Travers police station.

Besides Fareez, PKR Youth deputy information chief Rozan Azem Mat Rasip was also among those arrested.

Najib and several cabinet ministers were on the Express Rail Link, heading from Putrajaya to KL Sentral todistribute the Jalur Gemilang flags in a run-up to the national day celebrations on Aug 31.

'Unlawful, uncalled for'

In an immediate response to the incident, lawyer and PKR vice president N Surendran who happened to be at the Travers police station with a client in a separate case condemned the arrests.

"This is a totally unlawful and uncalled for arrest, which is nothing but harassment of political party members and activists.

"One would think that in a democracy citizens can wear yellow at KL Sentral."

Surendran (right) demanded that the police provide an immediate explanation.

"We demand the immediate release of all 10 arrested and an explanation from the inspector general of police Ismail Omar, and action be taken against the police that ordered this arrests," he said.

[More to follow]