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DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang was arrested together with five other party leaders in Klang this morning while selling allegedly seditious "No to 929" booklets which criticise Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad's declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state.

Klang police chief A Paramasivam, who was present at the Pandamaram new village market together with some 15 other uniformed and plain-clothes police officers, told Lim that he was being arrested under suspicions of contravening Section 4 of the Sedition Act because of the booklets' contents.

The other DAP leaders arrested with Lim include national publicity secretary Ronnie Liu, DAP Youth chief Teng Chang Khim and Selangor state publicity secretary William Thye.

Lim had earlier held a press conference at the vicinity of the nearby SJKC Pandamaram A announcing his intention to proceed with the party's "No to 929" campaign despite the arrest of Liu and five other leaders last week. The latter group was released without being charged.

"The police chief told us not to proceed but we said we were not going against any law. Everything is out in the open," said Liu when met this morning during the DAP leaders' walk to the Pandamaram market.

"We told the police chief that in the history of DAP, all our campaigns had been done peacefully. But he told us that he would know what to do if we proceed," Liu added.

Leaders handcuffed

Lim and the party leaders shook hands with several members of the public at the market before being warned by a plain-clothes officer to refrain from selling their campaign booklets.

On proceeding with selling two copies of the booklet, Lim was informed that he was being arrested under suspicions of having contravened the Sedition Act.

The party leaders initially refused to depart with the police officers, led by Paramasivam, unless they were informed of the specific section of the Sedition Act that they were being detained under.

"I won't go with you if you cannot tell me which section you are charging me under. You must go according to the law," Lim told the police.

After consulting with his officers, Paramasivam informed the DAP leaders that they were being held under Section 4 of the Act.

A short scuffle broke out after police attempted to drag away the DAP leaders. Teng was forcibly handcuffed by police and held by three plainclothes officers while Liu and Thye were also handcuffed.

They were later uncuffed and taken away in two unmarked cars to the Pandamaram police station.

Police then dispersed some 40 bystanders who had gathered to watch the commotion.

The DAP leaders were released at 2.30 pm on RM1,000 bail each and told to be present at the Klang Magistrates' Court on Sept 6 at 8:30 a.m. Liu said they were not informed of the charges that would be made against them.

The party's campaign was first disrupted when police arrested Lim in Ipoh in June for distributing leaflets alleged to be seditious.

Since then, police have made similar arrests of DAP leaders, including Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan, for distributing the "No to 929" leaflets in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, and Bentong, Pahang.

Todate, none of those arrested have been charged.