Human rights body Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) is "appalled and shocked" at the arrest of 12 persons, including a lawyer, outside the Brickfields police station in Kuala Lumpur today in connection with the case of a 24-year-old missing detainee.

In an immediate response, Suaram condemned the arrests and called for an open enquiry of the incident since it was a clear contravention of Article 10 of the Federal Constitution which grants citizens the right to peaceful assembly.

"The unruly action of the police speaks volume of their open disdain of peaceful assemblies," its coordinator Eric Paulsen said in a statement.

"The rule of law and the democratic freedoms thus far have been mocked and trampled upon by the conduct of the Brickfields police," he added.

The 12 were part of a crowd of about 50 people who had gathered outside the police station to voice their dissatisfaction with the police response to the status of detainee G Francis Udayapan. They were arrested for refusing to disperse after police warnings.

They were however released on a police bail at about 6.30pm.

While the arrest was taking place, Francis' mother G Sara Lilly was in the process of lodging a report in the police station to claim her son's body.

Francis' family claimed that he had died in police custody but the police maintain that the detainee is a fugitive who had escaped from police custody.

Legitimate right

In another development, National Human Rights Society (Hakam) joined in the fray to condemn the arrests, saying that police action was "unwarranted" as the public has a legitimate right to demand accountability from a public institution, namely the Brickfields police station.

"Arrests should not be made just because one is embarrassed by the public's display of their legitimate demand for justice, accountability and a swift resolution," Hakam secretary Elizabeth Wong said in a letter addressed to the Brickfields district police chief Zul Hasnan Najib Baharudin.

She added that the case of the missing detainee while in police custody is a serious matter.

"This is very serious. It affects not only the standing of the police in the eyes of the public, but brings to light the safety, welfare and treatment of suspects in police custody who must be presumed innocent until proven guilty otherwise in a court of law," Wong added.

Legal process

Meanwhile, the Bar Council said that it was "shocked at the unprofessional and high-handed manner in which the police has handled the matter".

In a statement today, council chairperson Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari said that there seems to be no credible reason for the arrest of the 12 people.

"In addition, the arrest of a lawyer in the course of the performance of his duty tantamounts to an interference with the legal process," said Kuthubul. The council represents 11,000 lawyers.