Four women lawyers who were detained in the course of attempting to see their clients sued the police and government for unlawful detention today.    

Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, 29, Murni Hidayah Anuar, 28, Puspawati Rosman, 31, and Syuhaini Safwan, 28 filed the summons through Messrs Daim & Gamany.  

They named the three arresting officers, Brickfields police chief ACP Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid, district deputy police DSP Jude Pereira, inspector-general of police and the government of Malaysia as defendants.   

In their statement of claim, they stated that on May 7, 2009 they had gone to the Brickfields police headquarters to provide assistance to 14 clients who had been detained that day for holding a candlelight vigil for Wong Chin Huat, a human rights activist arrested under the Sedition Act.  

The Kuala Lumpur Legal Aid Centre lawyers claimed that they were prevented from entering the headquarters to meet their clients on the basis that the said clients had signed a form waiving their rights to a lawyer.   

The lawyers further claimed that their clients had denied signing such a form when contacted on their mobile phones.   

According to the statement, their repeated attempts to see the clients failed.     

A police officer had then appeared with a loudhailer and ordered them to leave the place and when they did not, the lawyers were detained for the night at the headquarters, said the statement.  

The lawyers were then taken to the Travers police station at 5am, May 8, 2009 and released on police bail at noon the same day.   

They are claiming unlawful detention and seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages and costs.    

- Bernama