A total of 10 individuals associated with the Anti-Illegal Houses of Worship Movement (Garah) intend to file a lawsuit against authorities over their alleged wrongful detention before a Feb 7 rally in Kuala Lumpur.
They include recently sacked Hulu Langat Bersatu information chief Shafiq Abdul Halim and activist Tamim Dahri.
Tamim was remanded for two days and probed under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act, which criminalises “seditious tendencies”.
Shafiq (above), along with 10 others, were released on police bail at around 3am on Feb 8, while a magistrate had instructed that Tamim be released on Feb 9 before 8pm.
Lawyer Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, representing the group, said the government and the police will be named as respondents in the lawsuit, with his clients seeking a declaration that their arrests were unlawful.
The aggrieved parties are also seeking damages, costs, and any further relief deemed appropriate by the court.
Zainul said the remedies are being sought based on several grounds, including wrongful detention with no reasonable cause or proper legal basis, and wrongful arrest without a legally valid reasonable suspicion.
Citing preliminary information obtained from his clients, he asserted that there are allegations of “unnecessary harshness” and use of excessive force by enforcement officers, who allegedly failed to comply with operational standards by acting with “improper intent”.
The lawyer further claimed that the authorities’ actions affected his clients’ fundamental human rights, noting that defamation action will also be considered if there are official or unofficial statements portraying the group as “criminal/threats without a valid basis”.
“This issue is not a racial or religious matter, but is an issue of the rule of law and limits of enforcement powers,” Zainul said in a statement today.
He added that a notice of claim will be issued to the government and the police in the near future, after which they will be given 14 days to provide an official response before court proceedings are filed.
Crackdown at Sogo
Last week, lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla threatened a civil suit against the police, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, and the federal government.
The Garah interim chief, who was also arrested before the protest, accused police of abusing their power by stopping a “lawful and peaceful” assembly in violation of the constitutional right to assemble.
As early as 8pm on Feb 7, police began arresting purported rally goers at the compound of the Sogo shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur.
They were suspected of planning to take part in a rally against what has been described as “illegal houses of worship”.
Police personnel, including riot control officers, were seen stationed around Sogo and Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru to prevent the public from gathering. - Mkini
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