KUALA LUMPUR: The police have detained Selangor state exco member Ronnie Liu at about midnight on Friday for allegedly urging people to join the July 9 Bersih rally.
Liu, the Pandamaran state assemblyman, was stopped and arrested while returning to Petaling Jaya from a community programme in Serendah. He was traveling with Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim in the latter’s car.
The DAP man is currently being held at the Kuala Kubu Baru police station for questioning.
Fellow state exco member Elizabeth Wong, who was in another car, said she saw a police patrol car stop Khalid’s car along a trunk road in Rawang.
“The policemen just opened the door and pulled him (Liu) out. A few seconds later they whisked him away,” she said.
Liu’s lawyer told FMT that the police wanted to take his (Liu’s) statement.
“They said that he was asking people to join the Bersih rally, but we don’t think they have any case against him,” said the lawyer, who requested anonymity.
Meanwhile, Liu said in an SMS message: “Arrested after a ceramah in Serendah because (in my speeches) I touched on Bersih. Now at IPD KKB waiting to give statement”.
Hulu Selangor police chief Norel Azmi Yahya Affendi confirmed the arrest of the state exco member.
“We will be recording his statement. He was instigating people to participate in the July 9 rally,” he told FMT.
Liu was taking part in a state-organised event at the Serendah community hall in conjunction with the menteri besar’s visit to Hulu Selangor.
The police have taken tough actions against anyone promoting the Bersih rally, organised to urge the Election Commission to conduct free and fair elections.
So far more than 100 people have been detained, mostly for wearing yellow T- shirts with the word “Bersih” written on them.
Opposition leaders, some of whom have been hauled up for questioning for backing Bersih’s planned rally, say the mass arrests is one of the harshest crackdowns in the country’s political history.
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