Ambiga waves as she arrives at the Dang Wangi police station for questioning, June 27, 2011. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — Despite being hauled up for police questioning today, Bersih chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan insists the July 9 march for electoral reforms will continue as planned.
The prominent lawyer said she will also not apply for a police permit to hold the street demonstration as the home minister and the police have made it clear one will not be issued.
She then slammed the authorities for hauling up civil society members campaigning for electoral reform instead of engaging them.
“Instead of threatening people, engage with us,” she urged the authorities, repeating the movement’s statement made last night.
Ambiga also repeatedly called the arrests of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members in Penang during the weekend “ridiculous”, denouncing attempts by various groups to link the minor political group backing Bersih to “communists”.
“I don’t know what it’s about... They are caught in a time warp. Who talks about communists in this day and age?” she quizzed, claiming the arrests were baseless.
The British colonial authorities battled communist terrorists from 1948 to 1960 in a police action called the Emergency and Malaysia later enacted the Internal Security Act (ISA) to allow detention without trial. The Communist Party of Malaysia (CPM) later laid down their weapons in 1989.
“Whoever wants to support Bersih, it’s up to them. It's open to all citizens,” she stressed.
Ambiga, who arrived at the Dang Wangi police station at about 2pm and left nearly two hours later, told reporters she had been questioned on three issues.
The first concerned the Bersih rally launched last week at the Chinese Assembly Hall here; followed by a recent police report in which she was accused of holding an illegal assembly outside the Jalan Travers police station; and the last was about her speech at a PKR-organised event held at the Girl Guides’ Association in Brickfields on June 12.
The prominent lawyer said she will also not apply for a police permit to hold the street demonstration as the home minister and the police have made it clear one will not be issued.
She then slammed the authorities for hauling up civil society members campaigning for electoral reform instead of engaging them.
“Instead of threatening people, engage with us,” she urged the authorities, repeating the movement’s statement made last night.
Ambiga also repeatedly called the arrests of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members in Penang during the weekend “ridiculous”, denouncing attempts by various groups to link the minor political group backing Bersih to “communists”.
“I don’t know what it’s about... They are caught in a time warp. Who talks about communists in this day and age?” she quizzed, claiming the arrests were baseless.
The British colonial authorities battled communist terrorists from 1948 to 1960 in a police action called the Emergency and Malaysia later enacted the Internal Security Act (ISA) to allow detention without trial. The Communist Party of Malaysia (CPM) later laid down their weapons in 1989.
“Whoever wants to support Bersih, it’s up to them. It's open to all citizens,” she stressed.
Ambiga, who arrived at the Dang Wangi police station at about 2pm and left nearly two hours later, told reporters she had been questioned on three issues.
The first concerned the Bersih rally launched last week at the Chinese Assembly Hall here; followed by a recent police report in which she was accused of holding an illegal assembly outside the Jalan Travers police station; and the last was about her speech at a PKR-organised event held at the Girl Guides’ Association in Brickfields on June 12.
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