Putrajaya wants to instill fear in the people from speaking out against corruption by arresting 16 students who demonstrated outside the Parliament building, PKR said today.
Party vice-resident Nurul Izzah Anwar said that instead of defending the citizens, the police were being used as tools in the agenda to centralise power.
She reminded Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to stop hindering democracy and going after critics of the government, adding that they were only acting within the limits allowed under the Federal Constitution.
"The students were seeking answers and the truth from prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, but what is disappointing is that the answers they got was the lock-up and aggression by the police," she said in a statement.
The Lembah Pantai MP added that even worse was that their arrests were under Section 124B of the Penal Code for actions detrimental to parliamentary democracy, a law meant to fight terrorists and not student protesters.
She added that the incident was a wake-up call for the people to come together to demand their rights, at a time when the country faced various crises including the declining value of the ringgit, rising cost of living and a volatile economy.
"I urge the people not to derail the efforts started by the students.
The students were part of a sit-in called #OccupyParliament to pressure Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to resign.
They took turns to maintain their sit-in protest, and had vowed not to leave the place until Najib stepped down.
The 16 were detained last night and taken to the Jinjang police station.
- TMI
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