Lawyers have come to the defence of their colleague Siti Kasim, who was arrested after police broke into her home last night to "rescue" her client.

Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, a lawyer by profession, said in a statement today that Siti should not have to fear prosecution for doing her job.

"Siti was discharging her professional duties as a lawyer at the time that the alleged offence was said to have been committed.

"When lawyers are unable to defend their clients for fear of arrest, criminal charges or intimidation, they can no longer properly defend people facing violations of their human rights.

"A lawyer must at all times be allowed to advance a client's rights without obstruction or impediment, or fear of prosecution for carrying out his or her duties as an officer of the court," he said.

Lim called for the immediate release of Siti, who was detained early this morning under Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing a public servant in the discharge of his duties.

‘BN-style abuse of power’

PKR's N Surendran (photo), also a lawyer, called Siti’s arrest "unacceptable" and described it as a "BN style abuse of power."

"(Home Minister) Muhyiddin Yassin must get his act together," he said on Twitter.

Syahredzan Johan, lawyer and political secretary to DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, also questioned on Twitter why Siti had to be detained.

He said the police could have contacted her or her client to go to the police station to take their statements.

Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen, meanwhile, termed Siti's arrest a clear abuse of police power.

"We can see a grown woman seeking help from Siti, but instead the police arrested both the woman and lawyer?

"Just because someone has lodged a police report does not mean the police must act without investigating the veracity of the report,” he said in a series of postings on Twitter.

"This is just reckless. Don't abuse your powers, Royal Malaysian Police.

"This is why we need the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Committee (IPCMC)," he added.

Client had to be ‘rescued’

Earlier today, the police said in a statement that they were forced to break into Siti's house to "rescue" her 24-year-old client and to ensure she did not harm herself or others.

The statement also noted that police officers themselves had lodged reports against the lawyer over an earlier incident at the Kajang Hospital, when her client was in the midst of a psychiatric evaluation.

Police officers who were escorting the client said Siti had forced her way into the evaluation ward, despite security guards attempting to stop her.

The police extraction at Siti's house follows a report lodged by the client's mother claiming that her daughter was mentally unstable.

A woman claiming to the client's aunt later said that the the mother has a history of abusive behaviour.

The Selangor Criminal Investigation Department has since stated that Siti's client has been sent back to the hospital to resume the interrupted psychiatric evaluation.

Siti, who went to the Kajang police headquarters after her client was taken away, was arrested as she was leaving the station.

She was brought to the Kajang courthouse today.

Surendran also slammed the police for bringing a handcuffed Siti to the Kajang courthouse in an orange uniform.

"Unacceptable! She is not a dangerous suspect, but a lawyer arrested in the course of defending her client.

"The whole thing is a ridiculous farce, the police involved were high-handed and now look foolish," he said.

Siti has since been freed after the magistrate dismissed the police's four-day remand application.

'Lawful police action'

Criminal lawyer Jacky Loi, meanwhile, said that police entering Siti's home can be justified if police believed the client was kidnapped beforehand.

"If the police had reasonable grounds to believe the client was kidnapped, then the act of breaking in can be lawful."

Based solely on the viral videos of the arrest, Loi told Malaysiakini it appeared as if the client had informed police after being removed from the home that she was not kidnapped and that she had been willingly staying there.

"Based on that, the police could have acted within their powers, because at the time of breaking into Siti’s home, they may have had reasonable grounds believing an offence under Section 363 of the Penal Code had been committed," he said.

As for Siti's subsequent arrest and detention, however, Loi said that the videos show Siti to not be in violation of Section 186 of the Penal Code, as she was acting in her capacity as her client's lawyer.

"Even if Siti is found to be obstructing a public servant from carrying out his or her duties, an arrest should not have been the first step. Arrests should always be the last step in any investigation."

Loi added that this was especially so if Siti had given her full cooperation to police, was not seen as a flight risk, and in view of her standing in society.

Even so, he was quick to stress that the full facts of the case must first be made clear before any conclusive judgement can be made on the actions of all parties concerned.