Keadilan deputy youth leader N Gobalakrishnan today said his remarks about the police being "the running dogs of the government" were correct but have been taken out of context by certain quarters.

"I did say that certain members of the police force were the running dogs of the government but it referred to those police personnel who beat people up, who disobey the law and who are unruly," he told malaysiakini today.

He said his statement was not targeted at the police force in general.

Gobalakrishnan was commenting on a Bernama report yesterday which stated that the police will interview Gobalakrishnan over his remarks which he made at a ceramah in Kuala Terengganu on Jan 26.

Terengganu police chief Mohamed Yusof Jaaafar said Gopalakrishnan will be investigated under the Sedition Act for making those remarks.

Gopalakrishnan said that he was willing to cooperate with the police over the matter "but they have not contacted me at all".

"I will tell them that my remarks referred to the police personnel who abused the law. People need to know about such things," he said.

Charged in court

Gopalakrishnan said that this was not the first time he had a brush with the law.

"The police have called me up many times and I know how they operate. So I will let them decide on how to approach this matter."

Gopalakrishnan said he had repeated the remark at a ceramah in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, last night and will do so tonight at another ceramah in Pengkalan Chepa, also in Kelantan.

Gopalakrishnan is facing several charges of 'wrongful confinement' for allegedly preventing busloads of government supporters from entering the Lunas constituency in Kedah for the state by-election there on Nov 29 last year.

He was charged in the Kulim Magistrate's court on Jan 21 under Section 342 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term up to one year or a fine of up to RM2,000, or both, on conviction.