Two Anti-ISA Movement (AIM) activists were arrested by plainclothes policemen in front of the Central Market in the heart of Kuala Lumpur at about 3.30 this afternoon.

The two, S Manikavasagam (centre in white shirt) and Sanusi Abdullah, were taken to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters at Jalan Stadium, together with a white Proton Saga belonging to another AIM member parked within the Central Market compound.

Several plainclothes police personnel believed to be Special Branch officers, also ransacked the car and seized anti-ISA leaflets, posters and banners found in the booth.

At press time, police reports were being lodged over personal items missing from the car which was left unlocked in the compound of the Dang Wangi police station and against Dang Wangi OCPD ACP Hadi Ho Abdullah for detaining both men overnight.

"There are also many disturbing revelations cropping up now, but according to the investigating officer, the offence as ordered by Hadi is for possession of illegal leaflets under Section 8 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984,"said lawyer R Sivarasa when contacted later in the evening at the police station.

Attempts to get a response on the matter from the police proved futile.

No uniformed policemen

"At the moment, the manner of arrests looks problematic because from what I've been told, the police did not identify themselves, they did not show their warrant cards and they did not state their name, rank or station.

"Furthermore, neither of those detained were told of the offence they had allegedly committed," said Sivarasa.

Earlier in the afternoon, the situation outside the popular hangout for locals and tourists known as "CM" was tense when about 20 plainclothes police personnel began closing in on the AIM members who were distributing leaflets to passers-by.

For a while, a drama unfolded when Manikavasagam tried to run away but he was apprehended by a plainclothes police officer and brought back to the white Proton Saga.

Both Manikavasagam and Sanusi, after being 'hauled up' by police, were briefly questioned near the car, where Sanusi repeatedly asked an officer, "What's wrong with having the papers in the car booth, is it an offence?" But, he did not get an answer.

One Special Branch officer was busy recording the unfolding events with a camcorder, apparently filming the faces of all who came in contact with the AIM members while they were distributing the leaflets in and outside the Central Market.

Plainclothes police began shadowing the AIM members as they went about distributing the leaflets in Bahasa Malaysia which read 'Police and Home Minister Mala Fide ' (bad faith), explaining last month's Federal Court decision which found the ISA arrests unlawful.

It explained the unfairness of the continued detention of the ISA five Md Ezam Md Nor, Tian Chua, Saari Sungib, Hishamuddin Rais and Raja Petra Kamaruddin and asked for their immediate release.

Questionable arrests

On Sept 6, the Federal Court hearing of a habeas corpus application ruled that the initial 60-day detention of the five reformasi activists was unlawful and agreed that the police had acted in "bad faith".

However, the decision did not result in the detainees' release as the court said a separate application must be filed in order to determine the legality of the two-year detention order.

Sivarasa said as far as he could see from the leaflets, there was nothing unlawful about the content.

"This incident looks like a legal suit in the making against the police for abuse of power and for reacting in an oppressive manner against any criticism against them.

"They (police) may not like the content of the leaflet but it does not give grounds for arrest."

He likened today's arrests as a similar reaction by the police in the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall incident earlier this month where more than 100 policemen stopped the anti-ISA meeting from taking place on grounds that the activities "may be prejudicial to national security interests".

During the three-hour standoff, about 10 persons were beaten by riot police when they tried to enter the building that night.