Six more Human Rights Party (HRP) members were charged in the Ipoh magistrate’s court today with participating in an illegal organisation.

The six are Perak HRP chief P Ramesh, vice-president S Nagroon, Taiping coordinator K Sivakumar, and three other members, R Mohan, S Jayakumar and V Lingam.

They are alleged to have committed the offence under Section 43 of the Societies Act 1996 while partipating in an HRP-organised convoy at Jalan Besar Jelapang, Ipoh on Feb 13.

The six accused were represented by lawyer Augustine Anthony and Amani Williams-Hunt Abdullah, former president of Persatuan Orang Asli Semenanjung Malaysia (POASM).

Yesterday, five HRP leaders and members were also charged with the same offence at the Selayang magistrate’s court, but they refused to post bail set at RM2,500.

The five are HRP vice-president K Tamil Selvam, information chief S Jayathas, K Navakrishna, T Periasamy and S Loshna Rau.

When contacted by Malaysiakini , Anthony said that all the six charged in Ipoh pleaded not guilty and were released on RM2,000 bail each.

April 4 has been set for mention of the case, said Anthony.

“For now, I will wait for the DPP to supply all the relevant information and pictures pertaining to the event,” he said.

NONE Meanwhile, HRP secretary-general P Uthayakumar ( right ) said that he was disappointed with the arrests and charges against HRP members.

He claimed that at 6.30am this morning, several police officers were waiting outside Lingam’s house in Ipoh. “This is a form of intimidation and harassment by them (the police),” he claimed.

 

Uthayakumar also mentioned that lawyers’ fees and bail charges are being paid from Hindraf’s funds.

“We received contributions of over RM200,000 from members of the public who supported the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) back in 2007, that is held in our accountant's bank account. So we will be using those funds to clear up these bills,” he added.

Another 28 expected to be charged

Uthayakumar mentioned that another 24 adults and four minors are also expected to be charged at the Seremban magistrate’s court tomorrow morning over similar charges.

“I was informed today that those who participated during the convoy in Seremban will also face the same music... even the minors who are aged between 10 and 17. We will see what happens tomorrow,” he added.

In Penang, HRP information chief K Maran said he was informed that he and another two members, N Kanasundran and S Shankar, were required to be present at the Barat Daya district police headquarters, Ayer Hitam, tomorrow evening for questioning.

NONE “I do not know why we are required to be at the balai tomorrow, but I suspect it has something to do with the forum (on the controversial ' Interlok ' novel) that was held at Farlim Public Hall on Feb 20,” Maran said when contacted by Malaysiakini .

On Feb 13, 59 HRP members and supporters in Selangor, Perak and Kuala Lumpur were arrested as police came down hard on their nationwide convoys to protest against the novel ‘ Interlok ’, which is used in secondary schools.

A controversy arose following the ministry’s decision to use the novel, written by national laureate Abdullah Hussein, as a literature textbook , with several parties claiming that it contains words deemed sensitive to the Indian community.

Indian NGOs decry the book’s description of Indians in Malaysia as being from the lower caste, among other racial stereotypes.