Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has launched a campaign to lodge mass reports against the police, to intensify pressure for the release of six party activist being held under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) 1969.

“The total number of reports as of 7pm today is 470,” party coordinator M Nalini told Malaysiakini .

She said PSM is employing the same strategy that government linked NGOs often use, for example in lodging allegedly nearly 3,000 police reports against the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally pushing for electoral reforms.

Nalini added that while the campaign was originally planned only for just yesterday, it has been extended indefinitely as more and more supporters and party members are keen on lodging police reports over the matter.

“We consider it a success, as within one day we received over 400 reports and the number is increasing,” she said.

The campaign entails the public and independent NGOs lodging police reports to pressure the government to the release of six PSM members presently held under the EO.

Popularly dubbed the EO6, they are Choo Chon Kai, Sarat Babu, M Sarasvathy, M Sukumaran, A Letchumanan and Sungai Siput parliamentarian Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj.

    

The six were part of a group of 30 PSM activists whom police arrested at the Sungai Dua toll plaza in Kepala Batas, Penang while on their nationwide roadshow to call the rakyat to vote for change.

The authorities had initially claimed they were being arrested for “waging war against the Agong” and spreading “communist ideology”.

However, they were subsequently released, but re-arrested by Bukit Aman under the EO.

‘Free EO6’ online petition

Critics of the strident police action have labelled the act a desperate move by the police to scare the public from supporting the Bersih 2.0 rally, that PSM had also supported.

They have also blasted the police for using the EO on the six for lack of any evidence to detain them further.

The other 24 arrested at Sungai Dua toll plaza have since been freed on police bail.

Meanwhile, PSM has prepared a template on their website for interested parties to make the police reports against the EO6’s unlawful detention.

The police reports are requested to be made anywhere in the country against Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein or police chief Ismail Omar and his deputy.

PSM had also launched an online petition to further pile pressure on the government.

Addressed to Premier Najib Abdul Razak, Hishammuddin and Ismail, the petition condemns the arrest of the six as a human rights violation, and demands their unconditionally release.