PKR Youth has condemned the arrest of its members for planning to stage a flash mob in Permatang Pauh in conjunction with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's visit.

The wing's vice-chief Fahmi Fadzil claimed that the arrests were a slap for democracy in Malaysia and proved that the Najib administration does not respect freedom of expression.

“These youths did not throw chairs or slippers. They merely wanted to hold placards in a peaceful manner to state their political stand. Do the authorities consider this a threat which warrants arrest?” he asked.

Fahmi, who is also PKR's communications director, was making an obvious reference to Sunday's ruckus at the Nothing to Hide 2.0 forum in Shah Alam.

The forum came to an abrupt end when a riot erupted among the audience, which saw flares lit as well as chairs and slippers being thrown in the direction of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir and the opposition have pointed the finger at Najib and Umno for the chaos.

However, Umno leaders claim that the fracas was caused due to the dissatisfaction of certain quarters in the opposition with regard to Mahathir's answer on the Memali incident.

Meanwhile, Fahmi asked if Najib and his administration were in a state of panic and fear over public sentiment that even flash mob participants were considered political foes who must be arrested.

“I call for the immediate release of those detained and for Najib to apologise to them because they did nothing wrong...” he added in a media statement.

This morning, police detained 16 PKR Youth members ahead of the flash mob.

The group was rounded up after gathering in front of the Seberang Perai Polytechnic in Bukit Mertajam, where the prime minister is expected to join tens of thousands of people for a record breaking feast at 11am.

The flash mob intended to highlight PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's incarceration and call for his release.

The Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency is the stronghold of Anwar and its current MP is his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also the president of PKR.