The Bar Council today strongly criticised the police for detaining four of its volunteers, and for not adhering to procedures when they nabbed the four.

Ironically, the volunteers were picked up in Bukit Jalil yesterday - for distributing information on what to do when stopped, questioned, detained or arrested by police.

NONE "The police harassed the volunteers, comprising a lawyer, a lawyer-to-be and two chambering students, claiming that the Bar Council pamphlet... was "illegal" and "anti-police"," council vice-president Lim Chee Wee ( left ) said.

The pamphlet, entitled "Police and Your Basic Rights" was distributed at Bukit Jalil, the Sogo complex, Bintang Walk and Masjid Jamek as part of National Law Awareness Week, which begins today.

The volunteers were detained at the Sungai Besi district police headquarters for about three hours and were released without any charge against them.

No statement was taken from them either, and all the pamphlets that were confiscated were returned.

Law Minister launched pamphlet

"Although they stated that the Bar Council Legal Aid Centre Kuala Lumpur volunteers were not under arrest, police refused to return the volunteers' identity cards (which they had requested) and instead compelled the volunteers to follow them to the police station, where a police report was lodged against them," said Lim.

Interestingly, the pamphlet was launched by de-facto Law Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz twice, in 2006 and 2009.

"At the 2006 event, the minister himself assisted in distributing the booklets to members of the public immediately after the launch.

"In 2009, in addition to expressing his support for the publication, Nazri stated that citizens were entitled to their rights and the police must adhere to standard operating procedures," said Lim.