Fifteen Universiti Malaya students, hauled up by the campus authority for allegedly participating in an illegal assembly, were let off yesterday because some of the 'evidence' had disappeared.

This is allegedly what the students were told when they attended their hearing yesterday morning. Another two, however, had their cases postponed indefinitely.

One of the students who was let off said he was told by the panel that photographs pertaining to their allegation stored in a laptop had disappeared.

Earlier, some 100 UM students gathered to show their support for the 17 who were accused of participating in an illegal assembly outside the Parliament building to protest the 'irregularities' in the last campus polls.

Their participation was deemed to be in contravention of the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) 1971.

Yesterday morning, several student leaders from the Solidarity Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) delivered speeches which touched on the issue of campus freedom and the problems faced in the last polls.

The elections, swept clean by the 'pro-establishment' faction, was fraught with allegations of malpractice and intimidation. This led some from the 'pro-student' faction to stage a boycott.

Twenty minutes into the 11am gathering, UM security officers demanded that the students disperse. The students responded by shouting slogans and a heated exchange ensued.

Minor scuffle

There was also a minor scuffle when the officers tried to break up the gathering.

Security officers also questioned journalists at the scene, asking them which route they had used to enter the campus, why they had not applied for a special permit and which media organisation they represented.

The journalists were then instructed to leave the premises.

At a press conference held at a different location later, one of the 17 who had attended the hearing this morning - Zainulfaqar Yaakub (left) - described the hearing as 'unprofessional'.

The third-year Islamic studies student said the three-member panel never spoke about his charge but rather his educational background.

After talking about the same issue for about an hour, Zainulfaqar said he grew annoyed and demanded that the panel proceeds with the hearing.

This, he added, shocked the panel members who stepped out of the room to have a brief discussion only to tell him later that his hearing had been postponed.

At the hearing, the students also sent a letter to UM's vice-chancellor Prof Hashim Yaacob arguing that the proceedings were unconstitutional.