Serdang MP, Teratai assemblywoman detained

(The Edge) PETALING JAYA: Serdang member of parliament (MP) Teo Nie Ching and Teratai state assemblywoman Jenice Lee Ying Ha were among 11 DAP members detained by the police at a DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) candlelight vigil in Seputeh, Kuala Lumpur, last night.

Speaking to The Edge Financial Daily via her mobile phone from the compound of the Brickfields police station where they were being detained, Lee, who is also DAPSY deputy chairperson, said it did not appear they had been arrested but were being “contained”, with the men and women segregated in sheltered car parks.

She said the 11 detainees comprised nine DAPSY members and two DAP Wanita members.

“We are not allowed to speak to anyone and we are not allowed access to lawyers. We have not been told of anything. As we speak, the police are trying to pull more people (who were gathering outside the police station in support of those detained) into the police station,” she said, adding that the group which had gathered outside included other MPs.

Lee said the detainees were allowed to carry their personal belongings. She wasn’t sure when they would be released.

Meanwhile, in a statement condemning the arrest, DAPSY secretariat said the DAP members were hauled up by police at the start of the DAPSY Seputeh candlelight vigil “on the death of democracy” at the DAP office there.

“At a time when the people of Malaysia are mourning the accelerated death of democracy in this country fuelled by the shameful events in Perak, the police have reinforced the idea that democracy does not exist in this country,” it said.