Five Orang Asli from the interiors of Gua Musang have been arrested  by the Forestry Department today over anti-logging blockades.

Lawyer Roger Chan, when contacted, said the arrests were in relation to the Forestry Department's demolition of a blockade set up by the Temiar people in Simpang Petei.

"They were arrested allegedly for blockading to safeguard their ancestral land," Chan told Malaysiakini.

He believed that of the five detained, at least three had been arrested previously on a similar charge when the blockades were torn down previously.

However, as they have not been charged in court in the matter, Chan said the arrest was unlawful.

"You can't be arrested twice for the same offence if they're not charged," he said.

A member of the Temiar community, Dendi Johari, said the Simpang Petei blockade has been torn down seven times.

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Chan said he is currently trying to secure the detainees' immediate release, failing which they would be taking action against the Forestry Department.

He added that he has yet to be granted access to the detainees.

At the time of writing, the Kelantan Forestry Department has not responded to requests for comments.

When contacted, Gua Musang district police chief Rajab Ahad Ismail said no reports have been lodged on the matter.

The arrests comes barely a week after the Gua Musang Magistrate's Court quashed a logging company's bid to dismantle the Orang Asli anti-logging blockade.

The court ruled that the Orang Asli are the rightful occupiers of the land their blockades are set up on and thus have control of the area.

More than a dozen Orang Asli were arrested last year as the Forestry Department dismantled several blockades.

The blockades were first set up by the Orang Asli in September to stop logging in the forest reserve, which they said was destroying their food and water sources.