Aliran is greatly perturbed that the judicial process in the case of Ong Beng Keong (better known as Organic Ong) and Ooi Chuan Seng was not observed. Both of them, detained after trying several times to speak to Penang Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon over the repeal of Rent Control, were expected to be produced before a magistrate in Penang this morning for the police to obtain a remand order. Instead of allowing the judicial process to take place, the authorities played a cat-and-mouse game with the public.

About 100 anxious friends and affected tenants, concerned over the duo's well-being, turned up at the main court complex along Farquhar Street as early as 8.30 a.m. But they - along with media personnel - waited in vain, until noon. In the meantime, all sorts of rumours circulated among the crowd. Some said they were arriving through a side-entrance, sending the crowd moving in that direction. Others said that a magistrate was heading to the Central Police Headquarters in Penang Road to hear the remand application there. A plainclothes police inspector, however, told us that Ong would not be produced in court today because he had already been remanded on Friday, the day of his arrest. Outside the court, FRU trucks stood by.

Shockingly, Ong's three lawyers themselves were in the dark as to when and where the remand hearing would be heard. This is preposterous because the detainees were denied the intervention of their lawyers when the magistrate was hearing arguments for the remand order. If they had been there, the lawyers could have also verified the physical condition of the two detainees.

Just before noon, one of Ong's lawyers heard that the magistrate had already gone to the Central Police HQ to hear the remand application and that the magistrate had granted the police a 5-day remand order (from today) to further detain Ong and Ooi.

Why couldn't the police act transparently and bring both the detainees to court? They cannot put the blame on the crowd, which had behaved peacefully while waiting. The many police personnel who were around can attest to the crowd's good behaviour. The police had no occasion to caution or control the crowd.

There are several disturbing questions that arise. Why were the two detainees denied the universally accepted right of a legal counsel? And why don’t judges and magistrates insist that the judicial process take place within the sanctity of the courthouse? Why do they have to go, without good reason, to the police station to hear remand applications?

Why were Ong and Ooi detained for more that 48 hours before being produced before a magistrate when the law stipulates that they should be produced within 24 hours? When people's civil liberties and basic freedom are involved, you cannot plead that it was a weekend and therefore you cannot find a magistrate.

Ong and Ooi were detained over a trivial matter, which doesn't warrant the treatment meted out to them. They have already been detained for two days and to remand them for a further five days is harsh and cruel.

It is a pity that the authorities have to resort to high-handed measures to resolve a problem that was essentially created by the Barisan government when it decided to repeal Rent Control without looking into the plight of low-income tenants.

Aliran calls upon the police to release both the detainees immediately and unconditionally and to ensure that both of them are treated humanely.