23 May Day rally detainees in M’sia to walk free today, lawyer says

KUALA LUMPUR — A lawyer said today (May 5) that police have informed him that the 23 people who were detained over the recent May Day rally against the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be released later today without being charged.

Mr Eric Paulsen, one of the lawyers representing the group, said the 23 were arrested under Section 143 of the Penal Code on illegal assembly and Section 4 of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958 on the use of corrosive or explosive substances or offensive weapons.

“He said they won’t be charged and they’ll be released ‘petang’ (afternoon or evening),” Mr Paulsen told Malay Mail Online, referring to an investigating officer from the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.

“The only police report lodged on the 23 is just the smoke bomb that was released at Central Market. To us, it seems exaggerated,” the lawyer added.

Mr Paulsen also said another man was arrested separately last Friday on the day of the rally for allegedly participating in an illegal assembly and for allegedly possessing a dangerous weapon, adding that the police had searched his house.

“This one fell off the radar. So now, another lawyer, Sivamalar, she’ll be going for his remand this morning,” he said.

Opposition politicians and activists were also arrested for participating in the Labour Day mass rally against the GST that came into effect on April 1, including PAS leaders Mohamad Sabu and Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli, PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke, PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan, as well as former Bersih 2.0 chair Ambiga Sreenevasan.

A reported 10,000 people took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur on May 1 to take part in the anti-GST rally organised by civil society movement #KitaLawan.

There were no reports of injuries or casualties during the mass protest against the broad based consumption tax.

After the event, however, police claimed on their official Facebook account that the rally was not fully under control, citing incidents of alleged vandalism and smoke bombs being thrown by protesters. THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE