The human rights lawyer told The Malaysian Insider that there was no law in the country that allowed such pre-emptive arrests or for T-shirts to be declared as illegal.
In declaring Bersih’s yellow T-shirts illegal, said Surendran, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was attempting to play the role of an absolute monarch issuing a decree on his subjects.
“There is no law that says you cannot wear T-shirts with the word Bersih on it. There is no law that allows the arrest of individuals who [have not committed] any offence. The Bersih rally has not even happened yet... they cannot arrest people for inviting people to attend a rally or for announcing their intention to join the rally,” he said when contacted.
“This is purely from a legal point of view. But here you have a situation where the police force is committing unlawful arrests on a daily basis... it goes against the Criminal Procedure Code and all laws in the country,” he said.
He was commenting on the ongoing spate of arrests across the nation, the latest occurring at the Sungai Siput wet market near Ipoh, Perak this morning when 14 people including two opposition assemblymen were detained.
The duo — Jalong assemblyman Leong Mee Meng of DAP and Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang of PKR — along with the rest of the group were picked up by the police while distributing miniature Jalur Gemilang flags. They were garbed in Bersih’s signature yellow T-shirts at the time.
“In this case, they were distributing Malaysia flags. Under the law, the cops can only arrest an individual if they have reasonable suspicion that a serious offence has been committed,” said Surendran.
Last weekend, the police also rounded up a group of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activists, including Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar, accusing them of attempting to revive communism. The group had also stated their support of the July 9 Bersih rally. A number of opposition politicians have also been summoned to have their statements recorded over Bersih.
Earlier today, Hishammuddin declared T-shirts sporting messages in support of Bersih illegal, saying they were related to an illegal assembly. He did not, however, specify the legal provision the garments were deemed to have breached.
“And now the police are also seizing T-shirts from the Bersih secretariat office. There are arrests all over and we are sure that more NGOs will be targeted. You can expect that the tempo will only increase in the days head... this is an attempt by the cops to stop people from attending the rally,” said Surendran.
Surendran urged all those detained by the police to exercise their legal rights and sue the government for damages.
“They can now file civil suits... yes, I will certainly call upon everyone to sue the pants off the government and the police not just to obtain compensation but to teach them a lesson that they cannot abuse their powers. I call this an arrogance of power because they know they control the police and they know they control the courts so they think they can do as they please,” he said.
Surendran also expressed disgust at the court system, pointing out that it was “surprising” that the magistrates had allowed remand orders on those who were unlawfully arrested.
“From what has happened in the past week, we can say that our freedom is presently under siege,” he said.
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