A BN Youth leader has joined the ranks of those condemning the arrest of Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, saying that it is a new low for the country.

 

“The arrest broke the camel’s back for me,” said MIC youth chief C Sivarraajh in a statement today.

 

“A MP should not be arrested for speaking in Parliament or on the way to Parliament. He or she enjoys immunity against any action under any law, otherwise what is the purpose of having a Parliament in the first place,” he said.

 

He added that the arrest was also “particularly outrageous and repugnant” because of the way the police had “ambushed” her – first by calling her to give a statement about the Kita Lawan protest, and then arresting her under the Sedition Act 1948 over her speech in Parliament.

 

The arrest has also dealt a blow to Malaysia’s global campaign to moderation, Sivarraajh ( left ) said.

 

“Many of those who suffered atrocities overcame such setbacks only to return again to lead.

 

“This arrest and its experience would only make Nurul more tenacious and committed. It’s good for a budding leader,” he said.

 

Nurul Izzah was the ninth person arrested over the Kita Lawan rally on March 7.

The protest in solidarity for the jailed opposition leader and Nurul Izzah’s father Anwar Ibrahim, drew some 10,000 protesters to the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

 

In Parliament on March 11, she read out a speech prepared by Anwar that condemned the actions of the judges who found him guilty of sodomy and sentenced him to five years imprisonment.

 

Nurul Izzah was released at 12.20pm today, after spending a night in the police lockup.

 

Significant erosion in human rights

The Society for Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) expressed concern that human rights in Malaysia have been significantly eroded, following the continued use of the Sedition Act.

 

It urged the government to bear in mind the recommendations of the 2005 Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the police, where it recommended that investigating officers not practice the policy of ‘arrest first, investigate later’”.

 

Proham chairperson Kuthubul Zaman ( right ) and secretary-general Denison Jayasooria in a joint statement today, questioned the current practice of detaining overnight for questioning the recent arrests in sedition linked investigations, as they were willing persons, who were not flight risks, nor ones who might tamper with evidence or intimidate other witnesses.

"This is incontinent with a human rights and professional approach in modern day policing,” the statement asserted.

 

Proham is an NGO comprised of former commissioners of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).

 

Both Kuthubul and Denison were also members of the RCI on the police force.