updated version Even before they could unfurl their banners, the police swooped in and arrested six people who attempted to stage a protest close to the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre where the 11th Asean Summit is being held.

The would-be protest, initiated by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) members, had aimed to highlight the regional grouping's failure to address certain crucial issues.

At about 11am, as the protestors were gearing up to send their message from the nearby KLCC park, when some 30 police personnel moved in and arrested them.

Within 10 minutes, it was all over.

During the commotion, the 60 pigeons brought to the park by the protestors to be set free during the event went missing. The pigeons, which were in two cages, could not be found after the melee with the police.

According to a party worker, he saw uniformed police officers packing the pigeons away.

Those arrested were PKR information chief Tian Chua, party workers Jasmine Ng (photo, right) and Ginie Lim, activist Fiqtriey al-Hakim and Burmese nationals Kolatt Aung Lwin and Jadoi.

The two Burmese were arrested inside the KLCC shopping complex while the others were nabbed outside.

The organisers had earlier predicted a turnout of about 100 people.

The six were then taken to the Pudu police station and released at 5pm on police bail. They are required to report at the same police station on Dec 22.

However, the whereabouts of the 'detained' pigeons is unknown.

Not an illegal gathering

Chua, when met after his release, said he sustained injuries on his face and body as a policeman had allegedly assaulted him on the police truck.

PKR Youth vice-chief Syamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, who was also present, questioned the basis of the arrest and said the entire process was procedurally flawed.

"It cannot be considered an illegal gathering because we did not even start," added the lawyer-cum-politician.

PAS secretary-general Kamarudin Jaffar who arrived later condemned the move as contradictory to the stand of Asean leaders who were supposed to be fighting for the people.

"The highhandedness of the police was uncalled for especially when we are trying to teach Burma a lesson (on democracy), we are not walking the talk either," he said.

He was accompanied by PAS leaders Salahuddin Ayub and Dr Syed Azman Syed Nawawi.

Fallen flat

In a statement later, human rights watchdog Suaram also criticised the arrests.

"Freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution and enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," it said.

The organiser had also distributed a statement which described the Asean summit as having fallen flat on its face.

"Despite its rhetoric of an integrated regional identity, it has evidently failed to address major unsettling issues confronting the region," read the statement endorsed by 12 groups.

It said that Asean has woefully failed to deal with the recurring haze, the military dictatorship in Burma, the southern Thailand insurgency, and the plight of foreign workers and refugees.

Among those which endorsed the statement, were PKR, PAS, labour rights movement Tenaganita, Labour Resource Centre, Women Development Collective and the Asean Trade Union Congress.