updated version

Thirty-seven people who were arrested in yesterday's demonstration against the Internal Security Act (ISA) in Taiping, Perak, were today allowed bail with a surety of RM1,000 each by the Magistrate's Court here.

Yesterday, police arrested 41 protestors, 10 of them women, outside the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping under Section 27 (5) of the Police Act, for taking part in an unlawful assembly.

Four of them were teenagers who were released on police bond the same day.

About 1,500 people had come in a convoy of hundreds of cars from Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang and Kedah to mark the 100th day of detention for six reformasi activists as well as to accompany the wives of those detained on their scheduled visit last weekend.

Among them were Bahirah Tajul Aris and Aliza Jaafar, the wives of detainees Keadilan Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor and party supreme council member Saari Sungib, respectively.

More than 200 Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel were deployed to disperse the people. When they refused to budge, the police fired a water cannon truck on them and made the arrests.

Aliza was among those arrested yesterday.

Her case, along with that of the others arrested, will be up for mention on Oct 3 and 4.

Heavy-handed police

Meanwhile, Keadilan Youth today denounced the heavy-handed police action outside the detention centre yesterday.

It said in press statement that the police have violated their own code of ethics in which "their responsibility is to protect the rakyat (people) and to ensure that they are able exercise their right to peaceful assembly as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution".

"Their action in aiming the water cannon at women... raises doubts as to whether the police actions lately are meant to protect the weak or to oppress them under the direction of political leaders such as Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi," it added..

The opposition youth wing also lambasted the police action, calling it "irrational" and "wasting taxpayers' money", adding that there was no justification for the police in mobilising such a massive force as well as conducting road blocks and arresting demonstrators.

Sources yesterday said there were police road blocks at Tapah, Ipoh, Kuala Kangsar and Taiping.

According to the youth wing, the detention centre is situated at the side of an unoccupied road which is seldom used by anyone.

"If all this while the police and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad alleged that such peaceful assemblies are threatening the public and business operations, such 'classic' excuses (does not apply) in Kamunting," the statement added.

The other four reformasi activists being detained there are Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua, party leaders Dr Badrul Amin Bahron and Lokman Noor Adam as well as filmmaker-cum- malaysiakini columnist Hishamuddin Rais.