Five Bersih and Suaram activists were questioned by the police this afternoon over their involvement in the protestheld outside Parliament last Wednesday.
They are Bersih acting chairperson Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari, executive director Yap Swee Seng, steering committee member Mandeep Singh, as well as Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy and coordinator Amir Abdul Hadi, who had acted as the protest’s emcee.
"We do think it is a form of intimidation.
"At the same time, we are sticking to our agenda, which is that the redelineation is not legitimate," Shahrul told Malaysiakiniwhen contacted after being questioned by police.
The redelineation was unconstitutional, he added, because it did not summon all the objectors to the local inquiries, and there are still ongoing court cases related to the exercise.
‘We will not bow down’
According to Mandeep, the activists were questioned under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
Section 9(5) deals with notification of an assembly. Convicted under this provision can result in fine not exceeding RM10,000.
Mandeep also noted that the activists had entered the Dang Wangi police district headquarters at 1.30pm today, with the questioning finishing at around 4pm.
The police, he added, grilled them on the identities of the protest organisers, coordinators and attendees, and whether these individuals made speeches on the day.
"We condemn this because it is an intimidation against us and other activists.
"We will not bow down to all this intimidation. The fight against unfair intimidation goes on and we urge people to come out and vote in the upcoming election," Mandeep said.
Shahrul also stressed that the only way to beat the unfair redelineation is for Malaysians to come out and vote in large numbers in the 14th general election.
Last Friday, police had turned up at Bersih's and Suaram's offices in Petaling Jaya.
They had intended to record the statements of the activists then, but after negotiations, they agreed to question the activists at Dang Wangi.
According to Shahrul, however, Sevan was called in for questioning today despite not being called in initially.
"There was no notice, but we still cooperated," he said.
The government tabled the controversial constituency redelineation report in Parliament on March 27 and passed the bill on the same day, with a vote of 129 for and 80 against.
Some 400 protesters had gathered at Tugu Negara and marched toward Parliament on the morning of the report's tabling.
The protest was mobilised by Bersih, which claimed that the new redelineation report was rife with gerrymandering and malapportionment to give the ruling BN government an advantage in GE14. -Mkini
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