Bersih has urged the government to release the nine undocumented individuals who were arrested at a protest outside the Sabah Chief Minister’s Office last week.
The electoral watchdog said it was informed that the police had extended the remand order for one of the detainees, a teacher named Shafeeq Rondin, without notifying his lawyer.
"This is a clear violation of Shafeeq's right under the Federal Constitution and Criminal Procedure Code (which say) that the person being investigated has the right to be represented by a lawyer and be tried fairly and equitably under the law.
"Bersih calls on the unity government, particularly Home Minister Saifuddin (Nasution Ismail), to uphold the fundamental rights of Shafeeq and the eight Sekolah Alternatif students by releasing them so that their teaching and learning activities can continue.
"Failure to do so only reinforces the perception that the intimidation of activists is happening as 'business as usual' under the Madani government like previous governments,” the group's steering committee said in a statement today.
On June 14, Kota Kinabalu police arrested nine individuals with no identification documents who participated in the #KamiMahuAirSabah rally.
It was reported that Kota Kinabalu police chief Kasim Muda said the rally participants and organiser will be investigated under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
The next day, Sabah-based NGO Borneo Komrad founder Mukmin Nantang said the nine comprise a teacher and eight students from Sekolah Alternatif, a school for stateless children.
He explained that their presence was part of a larger road tour organised by Borneo Komrad towards forming the “Universiti Alternatif” and “Stateless Union” - both envisioned as platforms to empower the local stateless community.
Not rally organisers
Bersih pointed out that there was no reason for the police to arrest the nine as they were not the rally’s main organisers.
The police should follow the Peaceful Assembly Act, which places the responsibility of an investigation on the organisers, instead of utilising other legal instruments as an act of intimidation, it added.
Doing so has created a negative perception of the rally while victimising the arrested nine, it said.
They had been arrested some distance from the assembly site while they were leaving and it was done under the Immigration Act 1959/63, the group added.
Bersih also expressed its solidarity with the Universiti Malaysia Sabah students who organised the protest. - Mkini
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