A sombre mood surrounded the DAP headquarters in Petaling Jaya today when the party held a candlelight vigil for Teresa Kok who was arrested under ISA yesterday.

With candles and roses, the vigil kicked off at 7.30pm with about 100 people calling for the release of Kok, who is Seputeh member of parliament and Selangor state exco member.

dap candle light vigil for teresa kok 130908 05 DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng told the crowd that the candles marked "every brightness and hope that leads Teresa away from the darkness" and "symbolise every single day when she is inside (detention)".

"We know that she is in good spirits and I think we should also be in the same determined spirit that she has demonstrated and we should continue this battle," he said.

Guan Eng, who is also Penang chief minister, further revealed to the crowd that he was given an assurance by the police that Kok was in good hands.

The Bagan MP who spoke to deputy inspector-general of police Ismail Omar earlier tonight said that they had agreed to arrange a visit for Kok's parents to see their daughter on Monday.

"(But) he (Ismail) said he needed some time. He however promised that she has been treated well and whatever she wants, the police will accommodate her. We will hold him to his promise," he added.

According to Guan Eng, the top cop however did not divulge any information on Kok's whereabouts.

Related to nude squat scandal?

dap candle light vigil for teresa kok 130908 03 Guan Eng also questioned the arrest and related it to a ‘nude squat' video scandal that had happened three years ago, where Kok "had exposed the misdeeds of police abusing their power".

"Is this (the arrest) something to get back at her? We hope that it is not the case," he added.

Yesterday, Kok who is also Kinrara state assemblyperson, was arrested near her house without any specific reasons.

However, political insiders said it was possibly related to a report in Utusan Malaysia , which alleged she was behind a petition to lower the loudspeaker volume for the azan at several mosques.

Latest development that emerged today showed that she was arrested for allegedly "causing tension and conflict among races" as mentioned in the arrest notice issued by the Special Branch police.

Kok had denied the allegations and threatened to sue the newspaper and former Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Khir Toyo for making the allegation.

Kok is the first female member of parliament to be detained under the ISA.

The arrested ‘saint'

Veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang, who was also present, expressed his shock at Kok's arrest, and wondered aloud how a "political saint" could be arrested.

dap candle light vigil for teresa kok 130908 02 "A saint among all politicians. Who do you think? Teresa Kok. When a saint is detained, there must be something very wrong with the system in our country," said Kit Siang.

He further took a swipe at Khir for making false allegations against Kok and said that the former Selangor MB was the one who should be arrested instead.

"If any action should be taken, it should be taken against Khir. Otherwise, he should be ready to apologise and admit that he is wrong, especially in this holy month of Ramadan," blasted Kit Siang, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Karpal Singh, who made a late appearance at the vigil, was in high-spirit and took a swipe at Utusan Malaysia .

dap candle light vigil for teresa kok 130908 01 "There was no basis for Teresa's arrest but Utusan has gone on a rampage," said Karpal, who will be filing a defamation suit against the paper next week for accusing him of "rejecting Islam as the official religion of the country.

The paper however has carried a front-page apology to the DAP leader on Aug 26 and retracted the report, admitting that it was a "grave mistake".

Karpal will nevertheless proceed to sue the Umno-owned daily to prevent it from whipping up racial and religious sentiments in future.

The candlelight vigil ended at 8.15pm with the shouts of "Free Teresa, Abolish ISA".

Watch 8-min video of candlelight vigil outside DAP HQ