KUALA LUMPUR - The arrests of activists Adam Adli and Fariz Musa today will not put a stop to gatherings or demonstrations by the Opposition.
If anything, it was seen as a call to push on stronger with their KitaLawan (also known as BebasAnwar) campaign.
PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad urged Malaysians to prepare for the next demonstration outside Sogo shopping mall on Feb 28 and a climax event on March 7.
“I urge youths and Malaysians to attend en masse to state their objection towards this oppression at Sogo’s compound on Feb 28 and the peak event on March 7.
“The police must release Fariz and Adam immediately. Authorities must respect Malaysians’ democratic right as provided for in the Federal Constitution,” the Seri Setia assemblyman said in a statement today.
When met outside the Jinjang lock-up here, Nik Nazmi also slammed the manner in which Adam was arrested, claiming that plainclothes policemen did not show any identification when making the arrest.
“They did not specify what his offence was. They did not introduce themselves as police, neither did they show us their IDs.
“You can arrest all of us, but we believe that the people will not stop. There is no space in the jails to arrest all of us,” Nik Nazmi went on.
PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, who was also present outside the lock-up, said although the number of people who had taken to the streets for her father had been reduced compared with 1998, she alleged the fear shown by the government was the same.
“The same fear shown then exists with the government now,” claimed the Lembah Pantai Member of Parliament when met here tonight.
In condemning the arrests, PKR secretary-general and Pandan Member of Parliament Rafizi Ramli also said the arrests would lead to more youths rising to the occasion.
“Menahan @AdamAdli @farizmusa tidak akan menakutkan rakyat malah lebih ramai anak muda turun #KitaLawan.
“Demonstrasi #BebasAnwar di hadapan Sogo akan diteruskan tiap2 minggu. Hak berkumpul hak rakyat apatah lg dlm menentang yg zalim,” Rafizi said in his tweets.
(Arresting Adam Adli and Fariz Musa will not scare the rakyat, in turn more youths would stand up. BebasAnwar demonstration in front of Sogo will carry on every week. The right to assemble is the right of the rakyat, what more in rejecting injustice.)
Sending a message to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, PAS lawmaker Mohamed Hanipa Maidin also took to Twitter to lash out over the arrests.
“To IGP… you may arrest and detain those who stand up against injustice, but you will never be able to arrest and detain their spirits!”
Former Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah indicated that he did not approve of the demonstrations, but he was also against the arrests.
“Am I happy that I have to cancel family trip to Sogo because of the demo? No. Am I happy that 2 persons are detained because of the demo? No,” he tweeted.
Some 30 people, armed with candles, gathered earlier tonight outside the Jinjang lock-up to show solidarity for Adam and Fariz.
Adam Adli was arrested at a KitaLawan gathering this afternoon outside Sogo and it was learned that the arrest was regarding a speech he had given at last week’s rally.
It was said later that Fariz was detained when he went to the Jinjang police lock-up to show his support for Adam Adli. - http://www.therakyatpost.com/
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