PKR's Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin has been called in for questioning for attending the Kita Lawan rally in Sogo, Kuala Lumpur on March 28 .

Sim received a telephone call from ASP Ahmad Khairuddin from Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur, who asked him to present himself to the police.

Sim said he will probably be probed under the penal code for attending a peaceful assembly which called for the release of jailed PKR defacto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

"This raises questions about the independence of the police. Opposition leaders are probed, arrested, sent to lock-up, forced to wear the purple prison attire and go barefooted, just for attending peaceful gatherings," Sim ( right ) said at a press conference in Permatang Pauh today.

"I feel this is merely a ploy by the police to stop us from participating in the mega-anti-GST (goods and services tax) rally slated for May 1 in Kuala Lumpur," he asserted.

Among those who were probed or arrested earlier were PKR leaders Fariz Musa and G. Manivannan, PAS leaders Khalid Samad and Dzulkefly Ahmad, while Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah and coordinator Mandeep Singh were arrested today.

"However, when Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar's older brother was found in a protest to force the removal of the cross from a church in Petaling Jaya, action has yet to be taken on him," Sim lamented.

Khalid's remarks that his brother Abdullah Abu Bakar's ( left ) participation in the protest with 50 others was not seditious were chided by his critics.

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said the protestors could be probed under the Sedition Act while Prime Minister Najib Razak said action must be taken against those who threatened the country's racial and religious harmony.

Busy with by-election

Sim added he would cooperate fully with the police but that he was currently busy campaigning in the Permatang Pauh by-election that ends on May 7 , polling day.

"I told the police to come here to take my statement but if they want me to go to Kuala Lumpur, they must be patient and wait until the by-election campaign period is over.

"Don't worry, I will not be running away or flying out of the country," Sim quipped.

In this by-election, PKR's candidate and president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is facing Umno's Suhaimi Sabudin, PRM's Azman Shah Othman and independent Salleh Isahak.

The seat fell vacant when Anwar's family failed to obtain a pardon for him. Anwar is in Sungai Buloh prison serving a five-year jail term for a sodomy conviction.