Six police reports were lodged against the Brickfields police today for allegedly making unlawful arrests and assaulting the 12 people nabbed outside the police station in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The 12 were arrested for allegedly refusing to disperse outside the police station when they had gathered in support of a woman who went there to lodge a police report regarding her missing son while in police custody. Her son is the 24-year-old detainee G Francis Udayapan.

Among the complaints listed in the police reports were that the police had unlawfully arrested them since their presence there was to accompany the woman G Sara Lilly to lodge her police report, according to their spokesperson RN Rajah from the Police Watch and Human Rights Committee.

"The gate was immediately closed after we arrived, if they let us go inside the police station, it would not be the so-called illegal assembly," he said, when contacted.

Another complaint was that the police had allegedly manhandled the 12 when arresting them, including kicking them. This has caused minor injuries to some.

Five of the reports were lodged by those arrested yesterday, including human rights lawyer P Uthyakumar (left) while the sixth report was lodged by Keadilan youth leader S Manikavasagam.

The reports were lodged at the Jalan Travers police station in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

The lawyer in his report also stated that the arrest against him was wrongful since he was present to discharge his duty as a lawyer representing the detainee's family.

Released six hours later

The 12 were released on police bail after six hours yesterday evening. They were ordered to report back to the police station on May 15 to ascertain whether they will charged in court.

Human rights groups and the Bar Council have criticised the arrests.

Francis' case first hit the headline when Brickfields police announced that he had escaped from their custody on April 16 and was last seen jumping into the Klang River which flows behind the police compound.

The detainee's mother claimed her son had died while in police custody but police maintain that the 24-year-old is a fugitive now.