Police bail for three supporters of the Save Our School (SOS) committee of SRJK Damansara who were arrested on new year's eve has been extended another week.

One of the trio, Ng Chong Soon, said that the extension was because they could not meet with the investigation officer Mohamad Marzukhi at the Dang Wangi district police station.

"We waited since 10am and at 11.30am, we asked another police officer and he told us that Mohamad would not able to see us today because he was at Bukit Aman (federal police headquarters) to attend to other matters," Ng said when contacted.

Ng added that they would not report to the police as requested on Jan 14 as they believe there was a procedural defect.

He argued that the police did not issue a new police bail to them today but merely "stamped on" the extension to the existing bail.

The arrested trio are Kampung Damansara Baru villagers Wong Yau King and Saw Chin Cai while Ng is the Malaysia Youth and Students Democratic Movement committee member.

'Sensitive' element

They were arrested during the new year's countdown revelry at Dataran Merdeka for distributing leaflets to the public. The function was also graced by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his senior ministers.

The 50-odd SOS committee supporters distributed leaflets to the crowd highlighting the recent incident in which they claimed the authority had attempted to turn the school into a warehouse .

The Damansara school, located at Kampung Damansara Baru, was ordered to close by the Education Ministry in 2001 as the ministry claimed that it "no longer provided a conducive learning environment".

Human rights watchdog Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) yesterday said the government's reluctance to reopen the vernacular school was a violation of the child and education rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - in which Malaysia is a signatory.

The SOS committee has won several awards including the prominent Suaram human rights award in 2001 and Lim Lian Geok (a spiritual leader of the Malaysian Chinese education movement) award for being one of the most self-dependent and successful organisation in recent years.