Police today secured a two-day remand order against Mohamad Ali Baharom, better known as Ali Tinju, for his involvement in the demonstration calling for a boycott of traders at Kuala Lumpur's Kota Raya shopping complex last week.

The remand was granted under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Kuala Lumpur CID chief Zainuddin Ahmad told Malaysiakini .

The hearing was held at the Dang Wangi district police station this morning.

Ali was arrested under the Sedition Act at about 7pm last night and detained at the Dang Wangi lock-up.

Dang Wangi district deputy police chief Superintendent Habibi Majinji yesterday said a police report was lodged against Ali for his role in the protest at the mall last Friday.

Ali reportedly said the boycott was to “teach the traders there a lesson” on respecting consumer rights.

Ali led the protest after a customer claimed he was locked up by a trader for four hours after he refused to buy several mobile telephones.

The police report was lodged by a senior officer from the Dang Wangi station who received two messages via WhatsApp, titled “Pesanan dari Ali Tinju-Ketua Gerakan Merah” - with audio recordings of his speech at the protest.

The police had said they are investigating the matter under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948.

On Sunday, a brawl broke out at the mall purportedly between dissatisfied customers and traders, raising fears of a repeat of the Low Yat Plaza race riot incident in July.

Ali has denied involvement in the brawl.

In a Facebook posting yesterday, Prime Minister Najib Razak also urged the people not to take the law into their own hands when faced with any instance of commercial crime or alleged cheating by traders.

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