Although it has been more than two months since the campus student body elections ended, more Universiti Malaya (UM) students from Pro-M camp are to face disciplinary action from the university authorities.

Today, one of the 23 Pro-M student representatives, Tan Tiong Yih, became a casualty when he faced a trial by ambush after the campus authorities amended the charge he faced during the a disciplinary hearing today.

He was initially charged with giving a false statement and instructed to attend the closed-door hearing at 10am today.

The hearing only started at 12.27pm and Tan was informed on-the-spot by the panel that the charge he faced had been changed to ‘obstructing the campus administration’.

Despite protests by Tan, the panel insisted on continuing with the hearing and eventually found Tan guilty after nearly one hour.

He was fined RM200 and given a warning. He will also lose his student representative post and scholarship.

This was the second time Tan has been charged by the campus authorities.

He was found guilty in March on the first charge of producing a false MC. However an appeal committee which met in April acquitted him.

Apparently unhappy with the appeal panel’s decision, the campus authorities filed a second charge against Tan - this time for allegedly making a false statement during the appeal proceedings - a move that has been criticised by the Pro-M camp.

NONE Earlier, Pro-M spokesperson Sabri Jamaluddin ( left ) confirmed with Malaysiakini today that he and 12 other Pro-M activists, including Tan, had received letters from the Student Affairs Department, accusing them of holding illegal gatherings and press conferences during the campus election without its permission.

The most prominent among these 13 students is the president of the UM Student Representative Council (MPMUM), Mohd Syahid Mohd Zaini.

Syahid said he faced one charge - for holding a press conference without the UM authorities' approval.

"They said we need to get the vice-chancellor's approval in order to hold a press conference," he said in a text message to Malaysiakini .

Sabri faces the most charges - seven in all. He was the student whose mouth was forced shut by a UM security officer during a press conference in the campus in February. Pictures of the incident created a buzz among students around the country, as well as netizens.

The students are scheduled to hold a press conference in the campus later in the day to reveal the details.

According to a report yesterday by Gazebo Daily , a campus news website set up by the Pro-M camp, they were tipped off that around 100 UM students could face disciplinary action from the campus authority for holding gatherings and press conferences during the campus election campaign period.

However, Sabri said he does not believe that as many as 100 students would be charged over the matter.