The Pakatan Rakyat-led government in Selangor today condemned the police for using “excessive force” against Teratai assemblyperson Jenice Lee and 15 others last Thursday, arguing that it should not have taken place.

khalid ibrahim on klang bas terminal 090109 03 In a statement, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim questioned the police for using “excessive force against those who participated in peaceful gatherings and assemblies”.

“We believe that the arrest last Thursday should not have taken place as Lee and the others were gathering peacefully to voice out their expression,” he said, adding that there was no indication that the gatherings would have caused public disorder.

Last Thursday night, Lee and 15 other supporters including Lim Kit Siang’s aide, an Ampang Jaya councillor and a 72-year-old man were arrested for an alleged illegal assembly outside her service centre in Teratai.

It was not the first time Lee was arrested this week. On Tuesday, she was detained for six hours, also for holding a candlelight vigil.

The 16 were arrested at 8.45pm on Thursday after a candlelight vigil outside Lee’s service centre in Teratai to mourn the “death of democracy” in Perak.

They were subsequently released yesterday on police bail at 11am after spending three nights in the police lock-up and they have been instructed to report back to the Ampang district police headquarters on June 10.

DAP headquarters raid 'alarming'

dap raid 230509 monitor Abdul Khalid also expressed his regret over a police raid on the DAP headquarters in Petaling Jaya two nights ago, describing it as an “alarming development for a democratic country”.

“We also regret the recent developments where a series of arrests were made on civilians, lawyers, human rights activists and politicians.

“According to Suaram (human rights watchdog), a total of 146 arrests have been made - mainly against those involved in peaceful gatherings like candlelight vigils. To make matters worse, the police had even gone to the extent of raiding the DAP headquarters,” he said.

“The state condemns any violation against the freedom of expression and right to assembly... and we call on the police to respect these rights,” he added.

Abdul Khalid was responding to Saturday’s police raid on the DAP office in search of documents believed to be related to the arrest of Lee and 15 other activists earlier.

In the one-hour raid , the police confiscated a computer monitor, keyboard, headphone, a number of CDs and a CPU (central processing unit). According to witnesses, the cops did not show any search warrant.