Aliran Media Statement
Malaysians have no right to walk peacefully?
Aliran is outraged that a peaceful and orderly May Day procession was violently dealt with by the police, whose primary purpose is to keep the peace and not create havoc.
We are reliably told that this morning's procession in conjunction with the May Day celebration was peaceful, orderly and efficinetly managed. It did not create traffic obstruction; it did not pose any threat to national security.
Why was it necessary for a large police presence? Is it to intimidate peaceful citizens into thinking that they have no democratic right to walk peacefully? Why was it necessary to inflict violence on citizens who posed no danger of any kind to anyone in particular. We are told that one OCPD Bakri rudely manhandled some of those in the procession.
When the guardians of the law become violators of the peace, they create a dangerous and volatile situation which is totally unacceptable to peace-loving citizens.
Let's get the facts clear. If there was an illegal gathering, it was created by the police who don't issue police permits for peaceful gatherings. It is the polcie action that turned the peaceful procession into an illegal assembly. If there was violence, it was perpetrated by the police. The citizens who participated in the procession are all peaceful citizens who abhor violence.
In other words, it is the police who had created an illegal situation and caused havoc.
We need to ask seriously: is there room for civil society in a democracy to claim their fundamental constitutional rights to freedom of assembly, without suffering any human rights violation?
We understand that statements have been taken under Section 113 of the Criminal Procedure Code. At this stage, the detainees can be and should be freed on police bail. But the police are adamant - for no apparent reason - in insisting that they be kept in the lock-up for the night. They are intent on turning the whole initial investigation into a punitive exercise.
There are also detainees who are on medication. Among the detainees, there is at least one known heart patient from out of town who is without medication. His friends are unable to obtain medication for him from the pharmacies in Kuala Lumpur, today being a public holiday.
We call on Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, the Home Affairs Minister, to urgently look into the violent behaviour of the police every time a peaceful gathering is organised.
We hold him accountable for the arrests and detention of 17 peaceful Malaysians today. We demand that they be released immediately and unconditionally. Perhaps in doing so, the much-touted slogan of a people-friendly police may begin to shine on this dark day.
P Ramakrishnan
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