Keadilan supreme council member N Gobalakrishnan's wife sought to squash her husband's week-long remand at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this afternoon.

Lawyer P Uthayakumar filed the revision application to Judge Ahmad Maarop at 2.30pm on R Vasanthi's behalf. Gobalakrishnan has been held in police custody since his arrest on Saturday night under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act.

Section 4(1) deals with offences relating to the use of seditious words. If found guilty, a person charged with a first offence will face a maximum of three-year jail term and a RM5,000 fine.

Uthayakumar said the judge has yet to decide on whether the court will fix a hearing tomorrow as requested by him.

In his application, he said Gobalakrishnan's (photo) remand was tantamount to "false and malicious imprisonment" as any investigation or interrogation should have been completed within 24 hours.

He argued that "the police's incompetence in doing their work should not be compromised with the liberty of a person which is provided for under the Federal Constitution".

Uthayakumar urged the High Court to release Gobalakrishnan unconditionally and immediately.

The Keadilan leader was arrested by police in Penang while on his way to attend a ceramah (political talk). He was brought before a magistrate in her house in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

Police had applied for a two-week remand to facilitate an investigation of a report lodged against Gobalakrishnan last month by MIC Youth's social action bureau head T Mohan at the Dang Wangi police station.

Gobalakrishnan was said to have made seditious remarks about the police and Barisan Nasional leaders during a recent ceramah in Kota Baru, Kelantan.

Police brutality allegations

He allegedly claimed that the police brutalised Indian gangsters in lock-ups and executed them in a trigger-happy manner in a crackdown codenamed 'Operation Copperhead' between 2001 and August this year.

This remark was said to have been recorded on tapes and VCDs which were distributed to the public.

However, Uthayakumar who is also Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim) pro tem chief questioned today why the police did not take actions against those officers who could be responsible for the deaths of several Indian youths while in custody.

"What kind of justice is this? The families lodged so many reports against the police. The police didn't do anything about this but chose to go after Gobalakrishnan instead," he said.

Since June, at least seven reports were lodged against the police by those claiming to have lost their family members who were arrested by the police.

Double standards

Meanwhile, Keadilan secretary-general Sahri Bahri said the police were practising double standards in carrying out their duties.

"They usually act very quickly if a case involves members and leaders of opposition parties. In this case, they dragged Gobalakrishnan to the magistrate's house to just get a remand," he said when contacted.

He said the remand was unnecessary as he was sure that Gobalakrishnan was willing to cooperate and would have given his statement to the police within a day if he was asked to.

Sahri said the arrest was "an intimidation to the leader and the party and an act to scare off the others [from raising issues]".

Arrest condemned

Human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) also condemned the arrest and urged the police to either charge Gobalakrishnan in court or release him immediately.

The organisation said the arrest at this time was suspicious as "there have been lots of dissatisfaction with the police in cases relating to death in police custody and police shooting".

"We are also worried about his well-being in police custody. Gobalakrishnan's allegation has been against the police and we fear for his safety as he is vulnerable to abuse in police custody," said Suaram coordinator S Aruchelvan.

Police refused to comment when contacted.

Gobalakrishnan was among nine other Keadilan leaders and social activists arrested under the Internal Security Act last April. Police said they planned to to overthrow the government through militant means.

He and fellow Keadilan supreme council member Abdul Ghani Haron were subsequently released after the Shah Alam High Court ruled that their detention was done in bad faith.