56 Held in Anti-Price Hike Protest - KLCC Jan 26 08

MORE PICS & Video – 56 Held in Anti-Price Hike Protest - KLCC Jan 26 08; 43 Males & 13 Females – Opposition & NGO leaders; 500 Protesters Outnumbered

ABOVE & BELOW: At KLCC the crowds were waiting for Police Action

56 held for attending illegal protest rally

KUALA LUMPUR: Fifty-six people, including several opposition and non-governmental organisation (NGO) leaders, were arrested for attending a rally to protest against rising prices of fuel and other essential items. City police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Muhamad Sabtu Osman said police obtained an order from the magistrate's court to stop the rally by the Coalition Against Inflation (Protes). He said police dispersed the rally without using any force.

Among those arrested were five members of Protes named in the court order:(ABOVE) PAS treasurer Dr Hatta Ramli (BELOW), PKR information chief Tian Chua, Arutchelvam Subramaniam, Simon Oii and DAP leader Ronnie Liew. Others included Parti Sosialis Malaysia pro tem chairman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim, PAS vice-president Mohamad Sabu, PAS think-tank head Dr Zulkifli Ahmad and Tian Chua’s secretary Ginie Lim.

Malaysiakini journalist Syed Jamal Zahiid was detained for “asking too many questions”. According to Jamal, all he had asked was on what grounds were the police arresting people. Dr Hatta, Tian Chua and lawyer Jonson Chong were arrested while they were giving a press conference at a restaurant opposite the Australia High Commission in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng near KLCC. Dr Hatta told reporters that they would challenge the court order obtained by the police.

= == == =from NST; 2008/01/27; 56 held at illegal assembly
KUALA LUMPUR: Fifty-six people who took part in an illegal assembly yesterday to protest rising prices were arrested for defying a court order. They were part of a group of about 200 people who took to the streets near the Suria KLCC shopping centre. The protest was organised by the Coalition Against Inflation (Protes).

Police had issued a warning a day earlier( ABOVE), stating that the gathering was illegal as the organisers had not been issued a permit. Police had also obtained a court order barring the gathering and empowering police to arrest those who participated in the gathering. The crowd started gathering at 2pm in front of Suria KLCC, Ampang Park shopping centre and the Tabung Haji building nearby. Some 1,300 policemen were on standby. Uniformed and plainclothes police personnel moved in about 3pm and began detaining the protesters. Federal Reserve Unit personnel were called in when the crowd starting resisting arrest.

Those detained were taken to the city police headquarters. Among those arrested were four of the five leaders of Protes named in the court order: They were Dr Hatta Ramli, Tian Chua, Arutchelvam Subramaniam and Simon Oii. Pas vice-president Mohamad Sabu was also detained.City police chief Datuk Muhammad Sabtu Osman said the detainees would be held for further investigations.

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