'We'll block graduation and job prospects' - activists claim police intimidation

Two local activists supporting Hong Kong's anti-extradition to China movement claim to have been intimidated while being questioned by police.

The duo, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) Youth chief Siah Kwong Liang and outgoing Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) president Wong Yan Ke, claimed this occurred after holding events they organised for the cause.

The two had been called in on separate days over different events, but both claimed to have been subject to intimidation by one Bukit Aman Special Branch officer identified as "Tuan Tan".

Siah was the first to be grilled by the officer when he was called into the Dang Wangi district police headquarters on June 28, eight days after organising a forum on the Hong Kong anti-extradition movement.

“The first two officers (who questioned me) were friendly. They started by asking about my personal details, where do I work and so on.

“Later they asked, what kind of activities KLSCAH does, my views on China, the China Communist Party, and why I wanted to support Hong Kong," Siah told Malaysiakini.

About midway through the interview, however, Siah said Tuan Tan entered the room and applied an intimidating-style of questioning.

“He told me: 'The Special Branch has vast powers. I can send a letter to the Registrar of Societies to disband your society. I can call your employer and ask if they still want you to work for them. We can even influence your studies. You can't graduate and get a job'.”

Siah said his ordeal ended two and a half hours after he turned up for questioning.

He was not represented by a lawyer and claimed police did not inform him under what laws they were questioning him.

Wong would have his run-in with Tuan Tan a few days later on July 3.

The student activist had been involved in a petition campaign at public universities while also taking part in a rally in support of Hong Kong on June 16.

“Tuan Tan told me that the Special Branch director had requested that he interview us.

“The entire (style of) questioning was intimidating. He said he can do something to prevent me from graduating.

"Later, he asked if I believed that he could transfer RM2 million into Umany's bank account and get it disbanded for receiving illicit money," he said.

Wong said the Special Branch officer then stated that students should not meddle with China's affairs by taking part in the Hong Kong anti-extradition movement which could hurt ties between Malaysia and China.

“Tuan Tan said we are anti-China and inciting Chinese Malaysians against China and the China Communist Party. I said we are against the extradition law, not China.

“But he kept labelling us (as anti-China) and equated protesting against the extradition law to being anti-China,” he added.

Malaysiakini has contacted Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador for comment.

Since June, Hong Kong has been rocked by at least two major protests demanding the city's embattled leader, Carrie Lam, to step down over the extradition bill.

The protests have plunged Hong Kong into a political crisis just as the months of the pro-democracy "Occupy" demonstrations did in 2014.

The demonstrations are heaping pressure on Lam's administration and her official backers in Beijing.

The turmoil comes at a difficult time for Beijing which is already grappling with an escalating US trade war, a faltering economy and tensions in the South China Sea.

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