Nine students nabbed over campus polls protest

Nine university students have been detained during a demonstration in downtown Kuala Lumpur to protest allegedly dodgy campus elections process.

The arrests were made ahead of campus polls at several public universities slated to take place tomorrow.

The nine detained were among some 100 student protestors who gathered this morning at the Menara Tun Razak in Jalan Raja Laut before marching to the Sogo shopping complex about half a kilometre away, where they intended to distribute flyers to the public.

When the group arrived at Sogo, they were asked by the police to disperse and present their identification cards. The nine were nabbed after allegedly failing to do so.

The nine detainees are Hilman Idham, Aizat Salleh, Mohammad Za'im Mustapha, Ahmad Shukri Kamarudin, Ahmad Syukri Abdul Razak, Mohammad Idris Yusoff, Fikhri Harun, Syahriul Ismail and Ridhuan Jamil, all of whom are members of students’ organisations from universities around the Klang Valley.

The organisations include Kumpulan Aktivis Mahasiswa Independen (Kami), Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se-Malaysia (Gamis), Gabungan Mahasiswa Bantah E-Voting (Bantah) and Pro-Mahasiswa.

They were brought to Dang Wangi district police headquarters for questioning.

According to Bernama, Kuala Lumpur police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman said the nine comprised four from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, two from Kolej Islam Selangor and one each from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Malaya and Universiti Putra Malaysia.

He said they were being investigated under Section 27(5) of the Police Act or gathering illegally and Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing police fficers from carrying out their duties.

March cut short

Today’s arrests started when the police arrived five minutes after the students began marching from Menara Tun Razak.

The police immediately ordered them to take down their protest banners and disperse within five minutes.

"Otherwise, we will take action against you. If you gather anywhere else, you will also be arrested," warned the police officer, who identified himself as ASP Akmal.

Despite the warnings, the students continued chanting “hidup mahasiswa" (long live students) and "bangkit mahasiswa" (rise up students).

The students later acceded to police instructions and began dispersing slowly, while some of their leaders had their personal details recorded by the cops.

But the drama did not end there. The students walked over to the Sogo Shopping Complex, where one of their leaders, Aizat, give a short speech.

He called for more transparency in campus elections at higher learning institutions throughout the country.

"We have sent a memorandum to the Higher Education Ministry and we urge them to bring back campus democracy," he said, before being stopped abruptly by the police.

Banners, leaflets seized

The temperature rose a notch at about 11.20am when 10 police officers attempted to seize the protest banners from the students. One of the banners depicted the words 'kembalikan demonstrasi kampus' (restore campus democracy).

This resulted in a banner-pulling war between the two sides, ending  when more police officers stepped in.

"We told you to disperse and you failed to do so. Now hand over your identification cards to us," said one police officers to both Hilman and Aizat.

The duo ,however, refused, insisting that they had agreed to disperse and needed more time to ask others to follow suit, but the police were unconvinced.

The duo were taken to a nearby police truck. Seven of their peers  were also arrested shortly after for allegedly provoking the police and for failing to disperse.

About 20 students later gathered in front of the Dang Wangi district police headquarters to press for the release of those detained.

The nine are represented by lawyers from Bar Council's Legal Aid Centre, Puspawati Rosman and Murnie Hidayah Anuar.

Both lawyers were however denied access to the detainees until "the investigating officer has arrived".

"We are all waiting outside the police station but ASP Akmal has given assurance that the boys will be released later tonight," said Puspawati.

Contacted later, Hilman, who is currently held in a detention room with eight others, expressed his disappointment for not being able to see their lawyers.

He however said the detainees have been asked by the police to provide the contact details of their immediate family members for bailing purposes.

The nine students were eventually released on police bail at 12.20am - about 12 hours after they were arrested - and they will need to report back to the Dang Wangi police district headquarters on Feb 5.