After suffering from an initial setback in court, the police have succeeded in extending the remand order for polls reform group Bersih spokesperson Wong Chin Huat to three days.

He is now expected to be released late on May 8.

Kuala Lumpur magistrate Naziah Alias had originally granted a one-day remand order this morning but the police went to the court again to seek an extension.

At about 6pm, they got want they wanted - the remand is now for three days. The police had earlier asked for a four-day remand order.

The second remand order was granted by magistrate Nazran Mohd Sham after hearing submissions in her chambers from the police that they needed more time to interrogate Wong and complete their investigations.

wong chin huat second remand 060509 amer hamzah The remand was extended despite an objection from Wong's lawyers Latheefa Koya and Amer Hamzah Arshad ( right ).

His lawyers told journalists that they would now try to get Wong released tomorrow.

"We have give our fullest cooperation to the police. Last night we were present at the station, and if everything was completed last night, there will be not any need for remand today," lamented Amer.

He said that the police should just focus on taking a statement from Wong, which can be done in two hours, instead of applying for the remand order.

"This is a waste of taxpayers' money. They should have investigated first before making the arrest. And even the arrest is not necessary.

"They could have just called him at any time for questioning," he added.

Wong is now expected to be held at the Brickfields police station tonight before being taken to the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) tomorrow for his statement to be taken.

Meanwhile later in the night, a group of Wong's friends who held a candlelight vigil at the Brickfields police station were arrested for alleged illegal gathering.

A total of 14 people were arrested by the police after they failed to disperse following a police warning. They were all however released by 11.25pm.

Wong in handcuffs and lock-up uniform

This morning, Wong's lawyers were confident that he would be released later today following the one-day remand granted in the morning.

wong chin huat arrested one black malaysia campaign court orange shirt 060509 They were however taken by surprise when Wong was brought back to the courts late this afternoon for the remand extension.

Wong was brought to the court complex in handcuffs and he was dressed in the orange police lock-up uniform.

The Kampar-born Wong had been wearing black for the past 80 days to mourn the "death of democracy" in Perak, his home state.

His family members and DAP leader Lim Kit Siang managed to see Wong in the court lock-up this morning.

They said that he appeared in good spirits and urged his supporters to wear black as well.

sedition act 1948 170309 They also said Wong had told them that the police have not recorded any statement from him last night.

He was arrested at 8pm yesterday under the Sedition Act at his home in Taman Sri Sentosa in Kuala Lumpur and then taken to the CCID headquarters for questioning.

He was later whisked away to an undisclosed location about 12.18am. His whereabouts were kept secret.

CCID chief Koh Hong Sun yesterday said that Wong was being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act.

If found guilty, he could face a jail term of up to three years.

Wong's arrest was linked Bersih's campaign - dubbed as 1BlackMalaysia - for the public to wear black tomorrow to protest the Perak government takeover by Barisan Nasional.

Wong had issued the call yesterday on behalf of Bersih, the Coalition for Free and Clean Elections.

Meanwhile, police chief Musa Hassan said that Wong was arrested to stop him from "creating trouble".

"Our duty is to ensure peace, so we don't want people to create trouble which can disrupt peace," Musa was quoted as saying by Bernama .

"The activist's action shows that he had deliberately incited the people to illegally gather and thwart the (Perak) assembly sitting."