12 arrested in anti-war protest at Bkt Selambau

Twelve persons, including Jerai PKR division chief B Kalaivanar, were arrested at an anti-war protest in Bukit Selambau yesterday morning.

The protest, which was attended by approximately 200 persons, was organised by Kalaivanar, Alternative Action Team and the Malaysian Indian Efficiency Movement (GEIM) to protest the atrocities committed against Tamils by the Sri Lankan government.

The arrested persons were charged with illegal assembly under the Section 27 (5) of the Police Act, and the hearing will be at the Sungai Petani Sessions Court on March 29.

According to the PKR member of Parliament for Padang Serai, N Gobalakrishnan, the protest was held at the Sungai Petani graveyard.

“The police were prompted to make arrests after the protestors started burning an effigy of Sri Lankan president Mahindra Rajapaksa,” said Gobalakrishnan.

Sri Lankan yet to be released

Eleven of them, who are Malaysians, were released from the Kuala Muda police station yesterday evening on police bail of RM3,000 each.

Apart from Kalaivanar, the arrested Malaysians included his wife and several kampung council chiefs (MKK).

However, A Premadasa, a 21-year-old factory operator of Sri Lankan nationality, has yet to be released.

Kalaivanar said: “Premadasa was unreasonably arrested. Every Sunday, he cycles around town and yesterday, he happened to chance upon the protest and decided to join in out of curiosity.

“And for that, the police picked him up with the other protestors. He was also the only one retained in police custody.

“We were also interrogated by the police on whether we had links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE).

“As for Premadasa, we fear that the police may fabricate claims of his involvement with LTTE and charge him for that. Otherwise, how can the police be so unfair as to release everyone else but continue to detain him?

Protest held on private property

"I will be going to United Nations headquarters at 11am tomorrow to call for the release of Premadasa.”

He also stated that the protest should not be deemed illegal as it was held on private property.

“When Umno members staged a protest against the war in Gaza, the OCPD of Kuala Muda gave his full support.

"However, when we held our protest yesterday morning, he kept yelling ‘Disperse! Disperse!’ and his officers were very rude to us,” added Kalaivanar.

Kalaivanar is one of the PKR members to have offered himself as a candidate in the Bukit Selambau by-election scheduled on April 7.

On February 28, a similar anti-Sri Lanka protest at the UN headquarters in Kuala Lumpur was participated by 500 people.