Universiti Malaya (UM) student activist Adam Fistival Wilfrid is upset that the university’s management served him a show-cause letter for taking part in an 'illegal' rally, when he was not even present at the premises.

Adam received the letter from Vice-Chancellor Mohd Amin Jalaludin on Monday for allegedly being part of the anti-Goods and Services Tax (GST) group which went to the Customs Department in Kelana Jaya in March with a list of queries.

“I have nothing to do with the rally. This is based on false information they have received.

“This is humiliating to me already and has tarnished my reputation,” he told Malaysiakini today.

The 24-year-old undergraduate also said it was “slander” by the university’s management to accuse him unjustly and should have instead called him up to clarify the matter first.

“They should not simply make accusations like this on me without knowing the facts. They should have approached me first to talk about the issue before issuing the letter,” he said.

Adam however revealed that he did take part in a vigil outside the Kelana Jaya police station to show solidarity with the sit-in participants were arrested.

During that time, he was arrested and he alleged mistreatment by the police ( right ).

“I only went at night around 9pm to the Kelana Jaya police station. The police then arrested me and two others for no reason when I was just outside the police station.

“The police brought me into the police station and started whacking as well as kicking me,” he alleged.

He was then released by the police after a two-day remand as they “found no reason' to charge him.

Not ruling out legal action

Meanwhile, on the show-cause letter, Adam said he would follow proper procedures and reply to the letter ( below ).

If the management continues to take disciplinary action on him, he said he would be contacting his lawyers to pursue further action.

“I would follow procedures and answer to the letter but if they take action on me, I would forward it to my lawyers to look into it,” he explained, while not ruling out the chances of suing the university management if necessary.

On March 23, about 100 activists staged the sit-in after the authorities prevented them from posing 106 questions to the custom department's GST information centre.

Following the sit-in, police arrested 79 of them. Out of these, 25 were charged two days later under Section 21(1)(d) of the Peaceful Assembly Act; all claimed trial.

Today, 50 of the protesters were also charged and each had to pay a bail of RM1,500 with one surety.