The public has been reminded of their role in applying constant pressure onto the government to ensure that the police do not violate human rights values.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat Information Chief Tian Chua said in this respect, the public must continue calling on the government to take stern action against police abuse.

He said yesterday's incident - where police had arrested him and 20 others for attempting to hold a protest close to the venue of the 11th Asean summit - showed that it was unlikely police would improve their conduct without a public outcry.

"Yesterday's arrest came amidst the time when the credibility of the police is being questioned but they were bold enough to continue with their abusive conduct against peaceful demonstrators," he said in a press conference at the party's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said Malaysians should not allow the police to treat the current debate on their credibility as a "temporary inconvenience". "If we allow ourselves to forget what has happened, the police are going to continue with their old abusive ways."

Also present at the press conference were Jasmine Ng, Ginie Lim and activist Fiqtriey al-Hakim, who were arrested yesterday together with Tian with 15 other Burmese. All were released yesterday except for five Burmese nationals.

Aggressive cop

Tian also distributed a photo of a policeman who he claimed had assaulted him while he was detained in a police truck.

"This policeman was very aggressive. He hit causing me to fall. He then grabbed my hair from behind and tried to ram my face towards the steel bars of the truck. Luckily he was stopped by other detainees and police personnel in the truck. If not, I don't think I would be here talking about the incident with you today."

Jasmine, Ginnie and Fiqtriey also identified the same policeman who had acted in an aggressive manner towards them.

"He grabbed me by the neck and slapped me. I saw the way he roughed up Jasmine and Ginnie when he tried to take the placards from them. He was so rough that Jasmine fell. He was just plain mean," said Fiqtriey.

Tian said the police have not clarified the reason for yesterday's arrest. "We still don't know why we were arrested and whether there will be an investigation. In fact, the police have not said or done anything to indicate that we will be charged. We were not questioned at all."

He said that no police report will be lodged by him on the incident as he had no confidence in the police to act on his report. He will instead submit a report to Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) next week.

Tian also called on the government to release the five Burmese nationals who are still in police custody. "We still don't know why they were not released. We suspect that they may be investigated for immigration offences but I believe that would be mala fide (bad faith) as they were arrested for alleged unlawful gathering."

Main intention

Tian said yesterday's protest was not intended to highlight police abuse but to protest Asean's failure to discuss issues pertaining to human rights in member countries, in particular Burma and Thailand.

"Our main intention was to show our banner which read "Democracy now! Not just trade". But obviously the authorities just want to shoot down the little freedom of speech we have here."